Elon Musk and Donald Trump's Summit Dialogue: Assassination Attempt, Illegal Immigration, Biden's Withdrawal from Election
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Elon Musk and Donald Trump's Summit Dialogue: Assassination Attempt, Illegal Immigration, Biden's Withdrawal from Election
Meanwhile, the Harris campaign launched a fundraising appeal, calling Musk Trump's "attack dog" in an email.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsSource: BBC
Compiled by: Deng Tong, Golden Finance
August 13, 2024, is a day that could go down in Twitter history—the day Trump and Musk appeared together on a Twitter Space, reportedly attracting over one million participants. However, the conversation didn't start smoothly, with a minor hiccup—Twitter seemed to face technical issues, with users reporting difficulties accessing the event. X platform data indicated two million people were watching the live interview between Trump and Musk, yet live details weren't displayed. In response, Musk tweeted, "X appears to have suffered a massive DDoS attack," referring to a distributed denial-of-service cyberattack. He added, "We tested the system earlier today for 8 million simultaneous listeners."
Despite this, the duo went on to discuss Trump’s assassination attempt, illegal immigration, Biden’s withdrawal from the race, Harris refusing interviews, plans to eliminate the Department of Education, criticism of California's governor, electric vehicle policies, and more.
Below is a compilation of the peak dialogue between these two titans, presented for our readers.
Musk: Cyberattack shows opposition to Trump in the U.S.
After the Twitter Space resumed, Musk first mentioned the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, saying it "saturated all our data lines." The alleged cyberattack indicates domestic opposition in the U.S. to hearing Trump’s views. The interview was intended to be informal, aimed at helping "open-minded, undecided independent voters" make up their minds.
Trump: Congratulates Musk and mentions assassination attempt
Trump’s voice was then heard. He began by congratulating Musk for “breaking all records” due to the large number of listeners. It remains unclear what specific records he was referring to.
Currently, X’s interface showed approximately one million listeners.
Elon first asked Trump about the assassination attempt when he was shot at during a rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump chuckled, calling it “not pleasant,” then detailed his experience.
Trump: Hopes interview helps gain greater political momentum
Elon Musk opened by stating this was an opportunity for open-minded voters to experience what it’s like conversing with Donald Trump. Yet Musk clearly favored one side—his tone made clear his support for Trump, reaffirming it once again. The Twitter Space listed Trump as host and Musk as co-host, so we know where power lies.
Trump hopes this interview will help him gain greater momentum following President Biden’s exit and Vice President Kamala Harris revitalizing the Democratic base. Still, Musk had to apologize for the delayed and awkward start. So there was no room for victory laps.
At the Republican National Convention, we were told Trump had changed and would adopt a new unifying tone. That hasn’t fully materialized.
Trump also said he might never speak about the assassination attempt again—but this has been the only issue he’s discussed in depth so far.
Trump said it made him believe in God even more than before—a message undoubtedly music to the ears of his religious supporters.
Trump also lavishly praised the female agent who was on stage with him that day. Musk remained silent on the fact that this agent faced heavy criticism on X, including from Musk himself, who questioned her competence and why she was hired.
How many undocumented immigrants entered the U.S. during Biden’s presidency?
Trump claimed: He shifted focus to immigration, one of his key campaign issues that helped launch his 2016 presidential bid.
The Republican presidential candidate asserted, without providing evidence, that immigrants come from “mental institutions” around the world.
“Millions pour in within a month, and she stands up pretending to do something,” he said, referring to Kamala Harris. He claimed the U.S. has 20 million undocumented immigrants.
It’s impossible to know exactly how many undocumented immigrants crossed the southern border during President Biden’s term, but official data shows actual numbers are lower than Trump previously claimed.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that since January 2021, law enforcement has had 10.5 million encounters with undocumented immigrants, with over 8 million crossing the southern border.
Notably, the same individual may be encountered multiple times attempting to cross the border.
This number is significantly higher compared to the four years under Donald Trump and represents the highest figure under any U.S. administration.
Since Biden introduced rules in early June restricting asylum rights for border crossers, arrests for illegally crossing the southern border have sharply declined.
In July, U.S. Border Patrol arrested about 57,000 migrants at the border—the lowest level since September 2020.
This is a sharp drop compared to December, when about 250,000 migrants were arrested while crossing.
Trump to return to Butler, site of shooting
Trump said he plans to return to Butler, Pennsylvania, for another campaign event, as the previous one ended abruptly due to gunfire.
Donald Trump joked that his next speech in Butler would begin with “As I was saying…”
“Before you were so rudely interrupted,” Elon Musk quipped.
Trump blames Biden for invasion of Ukraine
Trump claimed that if not for Biden, Russia would not have invaded Ukraine.
Musk did not challenge this claim and told Trump he raised “very good points.”
“I get along very well with Putin; he respects me,” Trump said, adding that he used to talk to Putin frequently.
He then described an alleged instance where he persuaded Putin not to invade Ukraine.
“We’d talk about Ukraine. It’s his jewel. But I told him not to do it,” he claimed.
“He said ‘no way,’ I said ‘yes way,’” Trump said.
Trump has consistently said he “knows” Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
“They’re both smart and tough,” he said.
“When they see Kamala or sleepy Joe, they can’t believe it,” he said, mispronouncing the vice president’s name.
Trump wants an Iron Dome defense system
“Why shouldn’t we have an Iron Dome? Israel has one,” Trump said.
His comment refers to Israel’s missile defense system designed to intercept short-range rockets fired at the country.
The Iron Dome was developed after Israel’s 2006 conflict with Hezbollah, a radical group based in southern Lebanon.
It was created by Israeli firms Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, with some U.S. support.
Trump: Biden’s withdrawal was a coup
This felt much like Donald Trump listing his long grievances to Elon Musk, who listened patiently and sympathetically.
He again lamented President Biden’s withdrawal, clearly wanting a rematch election against Biden.
He called it “a coup, a coup of the presidency of the United States,” referring to Kamala Harris replacing Joe Biden in the campaign.
Previously, he labeled it unconstitutional. These claims aren’t accurate, but it’s interesting that Trump has never accepted his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
This may be as close as we’ve ever come to seeing him acknowledge the truth: Biden legitimately won the White House.
Trump criticizes Harris for not doing more interviews
Donald Trump attacked Kamala Harris for not having done any long-form interviews since securing the Democratic presidential nomination, unlike what he’s now doing.
“It’s great to have forums like this,” Trump said.
Regarding Biden, he said: “You feel really sad when someone whose job is to answer questions is unable to or afraid to do interviews,” despite the president recently giving an interview to ABC/CBS.
Musk continued claiming Harris wouldn’t accept his interview.
While Harris has regularly held large rallies, she hasn’t done a major media interview since launching her presidential campaign.
Harris campaign: Musk is Trump’s “lapdog”
As the interview unfolded, the Harris-Walz campaign sent fundraising appeals to supporters.
The theme: “Tonight, the two worst people you know are going online.”
“It wasn’t enough that Musk promised to donate millions to help re-elect Trump. He’s using the platform he bought—one of the world’s largest social media sites—to spread Trump’s crazy, hate-filled agenda to *millions* of users,” the campaign email claimed, italicizing “millions.” It labeled Musk as Trump’s “lapdog.”
Meanwhile, the Harris-Walz campaign also continued attacking him on Truth Social, Trump’s own social media platform, during the interview.
Was Trump’s tax cut the largest in history?
Trump claimed: During his conversation with Musk, Trump said his administration delivered the biggest tax cut in American history for the people.
Note: While Donald Trump did implement significant tax cuts during his presidency, they were not the largest in history. Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act broadly reduced taxes. Unless extended by the next administration, these measures expire in 2025.
According to analysis by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Trump’s tax cuts rank as the eighth-largest since 1918 as a percentage of GDP and the fourth-largest in dollar terms since 1940 (inflation-adjusted).
While Trump didn’t deliver the overall largest tax cut, he did pass the largest corporate tax reduction in U.S. history. The 2017 law reduced the rate from 35% to 21%.
This was larger than the cuts passed during Ronald Reagan’s presidency in the 1980s, when the rate dropped from 46% to 34%.
At the end of June, Trump told Bloomberg he supports further reducing the corporate tax rate from the current 21% to 15%.
Trump wants to eliminate the Department of Education
“I want to shut down the Department of Education and return education to the states,” Trump said, calling for the elimination of the federal agency.
He said U.S. students are falling behind their international peers.
He claimed “there are many benefits to eliminating the Department of Education” and asserted it would cut education costs in half.
This plan resembles Project 2025, a conservative wish list that Trump’s campaign has been reluctant to embrace.
It also reflects the Republican platform established at last month’s Republican National Convention.
Trump attacks California’s governor
Donald Trump harshly criticized California’s leadership, calling it “poorly managed.”
He also gave California Governor Gavin Newsom an offensive nickname in typical fashion and criticized his education record.
But California is a Democratic-led state with abortion rights and strict gun control laws, so Trump’s attacks are unsurprising.
Governor Gavin Newsom has also been outspoken in expressing his views on Donald Trump, previously describing him as “a little unhinged.”
Is Musk seeking a position in a Trump administration?
In the latter part of the interview, Elon Musk appeared to be campaigning for a role in a Trump government.
He expressed willingness to help Trump hold government spending accountable, possibly aiding in forming a deficit reduction committee. Trump said he wanted Musk involved.
U.S. media reported as early as May that Trump has been considering offering Musk a government advisory role if he wins.
Musk consistently praised Trump and agreed with his views throughout the interview, which may serve dual purposes: a rare interview for Trump and a highly public platform for Musk.
How many miles of border wall did Trump build?
Trump claimed: Trump told Musk he built hundreds of miles of wall during his presidency to secure the southern border.
Note: The length of the border wall built during Trump’s presidency depends on what you count, but even including new sections plus replacements and reinforcements, the total is under 500 miles. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection report stated the total length was 458 miles (external). However, only 85 miles of entirely new wall segments were constructed during Trump’s term.
The rest consisted of either replacements or reinforcement of existing barriers.
Near the end of Trump’s presidency, the BBC investigated the condition of the border wall.
President Biden paused construction upon taking office, but last year his administration allowed a section of wall to be built in southern Texas to curb rising migrant numbers.
Musk talks climate, Trump shifts to “nuclear warming”
Musk said he wants to create a positive future and spoke about addressing global warming, projecting sea levels will rise one-eighth of an inch over the next few centuries.
He seemed to advocate for the shift to renewable energy that Democrats have long pushed.
Donald Trump: The biggest threat isn’t global warming. He said it’s nuclear warming.
Musk laughed.
Trump: “No, seriously.”
Trump said five countries have nuclear weapons. Actually, nine: the U.S., UK, Israel, France, Russia, China, Pakistan, India, and North Korea.
Trump attacks Harris’ running mate over tampon bill
Trump claimed that Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, signed a law authorizing schools to place tampons in men’s restrooms in public schools.
The state law enacted last year does not specify which restrooms should provide tampons. It only states that tampons should be available to anyone who menstruates.
Republicans heavily criticized the law, dubbing Walz “Tampon Tim.”
Meanwhile, Walz embraced the nickname and said he’s proud of his work making menstrual products freely available.
Electric vehicle policy reversal
Former President Trump said at a rally last weekend, after Elon Musk endorsed his presidential campaign, he “had no choice” but to change his stance on electric vehicles. He told attendees: “I’m pro-electric cars, I have to be, because Elon strongly supports me.”
During the interview, Trump spoke about Tesla vehicles and praised the technology. Musk also told Trump he wants to transition to sustainable energy.
At the Republican National Convention, Trump vowed to dramatically roll back President Biden’s regulations aimed at promoting electric vehicle adoption on his first day in office.
He opposed a large-scale shift to EVs out of concern for American auto workers’ jobs. But he also said EVs themselves are “expensive” and don’t “go far enough.” However, according to a 2015 Washington Post article, this didn’t stop him from owning an electric car. The article cited his campaign team saying one of the two American-made cars in his fleet at the time was a Tesla.
Musk has recommitted to supporting Trump, but some Tesla fans and customers are unhappy with this.
Last week, a German company said it would stop buying Tesla vehicles for its corporate fleet because Musk’s statements were “inconsistent” with what Tesla stands for.
Twitter Space as Trump’s “safe space”
Rather than an interview, it felt more like a casual chat—Musk was extremely flattering and did not challenge Donald Trump’s unfounded claims about immigration.
Trump repeatedly asserted, without evidence, that other countries deliberately send violent and dangerous criminals.
Musk did offer mild pushback, suggesting immigration could be beneficial, but quickly acquiesced to Trump’s views.
Immigration is Trump’s strongest issue with voters. He followed up by attacking Kamala Harris as a failed “border czar,” though as vice president her role focused more on root causes of Central American migration.
On Musk’s political preferences
I doubt undecided voters learned anything substantially new about Donald Trump—if that was the goal.
Those who love him still will, and those who don’t, likewise. But perhaps we learned more about Elon Musk.
He said he likes strong leaders, and when Trump fondly talked about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Musk said it was cool that Trump met with him.
Trump and his vice-presidential pick JD Vance have done many interviews, emphasizing that Harris and Walz haven’t done so yet.
Trump said Kamala Harris would never speak with Musk like this, although this wasn’t really an interview anyway.
Given that Musk calls Harris a “far-left radical” and wholeheartedly supports Trump, he clearly wouldn’t extend the same leniency to her.
Nature of the interview: Musk gives Trump major promotional boost
Musk briefly said he usually doesn’t care about politics, but admitted he once waited in line to shake hands with Barack Obama.
He stumbled through saying America is at a crossroads but didn’t elaborate before stating he believes independent voters should vote for Donald Trump.
Thus, this demonstrated Musk wasn’t interviewing a major political candidate but rather using his platform for a major promotional push for Trump.
Space listenership lower than previous major events
About half an hour into the chat, X’s own data showed 1.2 million people listening to the live conversation.
By contrast, when Musk helped launch Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign on Twitter Spaces last year, peak live listenership reached about 300,000.
Compared to television viewership of several other key events during this campaign, today’s numbers are insignificant.
According to Nielsen ratings, over 51 million watched the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden.
Last month, 28 million watched Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention.
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