LAST UPDATE | 13 Aug 2024

ELON MUSK’S LIVE conversation with former US President Donald Trump got underway after it failed to get off the ground due to technical difficulties on the billionaire’s site, X, formerly Twitter.

Almost an hour after it had been scheduled to begin, the broadcast eventually became accessible to X users. Musk claimed during the interview that the delays were as a result of a ‘denial of service’ cyber attack on X.

During the event, which was billed as a ‘no limits’ conversation, Trump vented about immigration, repeatedly blasted President Joe Biden as “stupid” and mused on developing a new missile defence system.

“One of the things we’re going to do is we’re going to build an Iron Dome,” he said, referring to Israel’s missile defense system. “We’re going to have the best Iron Dome in the world… because it just takes one maniac to, you know, start something.”

The Republican nominee also dismissed climate change, whose sea-level rises he said would simply create more real estate opportunities.

Message which was displayed on X, formerly Twitter, during the delays.

“The biggest threat is not global warming, where the ocean is going to rise one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years,” he told Musk.

In a very one-sided conversation on X, Trump boasted about his relationship with autocrats like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un  and China’s Xi Jinping, and insisted America would be safer under his stewardship.

The announcement that Musk, who has publicly backed Trump in recent weeks, would be hosting the “interview” came alongside the Republican candidate’s return to posting on X today. 

Last night, Musk reiterated his strong support for Trump, saying the ex-president “was the path to prosperity and Kamala is the opposite.”

At one point he also appeared to be angling for a job under a future Trump administration, suggesting he would like to serve on a cost-cutting committee.

“I think it would be great to just have a government efficiency commission that takes a look at these things and just ensures that taxpayer money… is spent in a good way,” he said. “I’d be happy to help out on such a commission.”

Trump appeared sold on the job application.

Scab recognize scab. https://t.co/lDDUSp2XF4

— AFL-CIO ✊ (@AFLCIO) August 13, 2024

“You’re the greatest cutter,” he told the man who slashed swathes of staff months after taking over Twitter. Trump also praised Musk for firing workers who have tried to unionise at his companies. 

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL CIO) posted a clip of the conversation with the words “Scab recognise scab”. 

Kamala Harris’ campaign account on X responded to the rambling conversation saying Trump’s “extremism” and “dangerous agenda” were on full display during “whatever that was”. 

The Harris campaign described Musk and Trump as “self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024″.

Our statement on... whatever that was pic.twitter.com/bOZfUu8rbk

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 13, 2024

Musk reinstated Trump’s banned account when he bought the site in 2022 but Trump has stuck to posting on his own social network, Truth Social, until today.

X users immediately began reacting to the failed audio ‘Space’ broadcast when they were met with various messages informing them they could not access the feed. 

Additional reporting by Muiris O’Cearbhaill and © AFP 2024