New York —
Donald Trump recounted his assassination attempt in vivid detail and promised the largest deportation in US history as he returned to the social network formerly known as Twitter in a conversation that was plagued by technical glitches.
“If I hadn’t turned my head, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now, as much as I like you,” Trump told Social Network X owner Elon Musk.
Musk, a former Trump critic, said the Republican candidate’s strength, which he demonstrated in his response to last month’s attack, was critical to national security.
“There are some really tough characters out there,” Musk said. “And if they don’t think the American president is tough, they’ll do whatever they want.”
The public conversation between Trump and Musk, which was mostly friendly, revealed little new information about Trump’s plans for a second term. The former president spent much of the conversation discussing his recent assassination attempt, illegal immigration and government regulations.
Still, the conversation underscored how much the U.S. political landscape has changed less than four years after Trump was permanently banned by the social media company’s previous administration for spreading misinformation that led to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and undermined the very foundations of American democracy.
That kind of misinformation has thrived at X under Musk.
The session was also intended to serve as a way for the former president to reach out directly to millions of voters. It was also a chance for X, a platform that relies heavily on politics, to redeem itself after some struggles.
But it didn’t start as planned.
There were 878,000 users connected to the conversation more than 40 minutes after the scheduled start time, but no interviews were being broadcast until then. Many users were presented with a message saying: “Details not available.”
Trump’s team posted that the “interview at X was overwhelmed with users connecting.” And once the meeting got underway, Musk apologized for the delay, saying it was caused by a “massive attack” that overwhelmed the company’s system.
Trump supporters were visibly frustrated.
“Not available??? I’ve planned my entire day around this,” wrote conservative commentator Glenn Beck.
“Please let Elon know we can’t join,” billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted.
Before his conversation with Trump, Musk posted on the platform that X was making “some system adjustments” to handle what was expected to be a large number of participants.
The rocky start was reminiscent of Musk’s May 2023 conversation on the social network between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The Republican governor used the platform to formally announce his candidacy for president. However, it was a disaster full of technical glitches that was overwhelmed by the more than 400,000 people who tried to connect.
Trump’s Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, said Trump mocked DeSantis at the time.
“Wow! DeSantis’ Twitter launch is a disaster! His entire campaign is going to be a disaster. Stay tuned!” Trump wrote in a message republished Monday by Harris’ campaign.
Monday’s meeting also highlighted the evolving personal relationship between Trump and Musk, two of the world’s most powerful men who have gone from bitter rivals to allies in the span of one election season.
Musk, who had described himself as a “moderate Democrat” until recently, suggested in 2022 that Trump was too old to be president again. Still, Musk formally endorsed Trump two days after his assassination attempt last month.
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