Financial News Agency, August 13 (Editor Xiaoxiang) On Monday evening local time, the much-anticipated first live interview between Elon Musk and Donald Trump on the X platform was forced to go live due to a technical failure. After a "little interlude" that was delayed for more than 40 minutes, it finally started as planned. The two "super internet celebrities" on American social media also exchanged their views on a number of core topics of concern to American public opinion.
At present, this interview has ended and lasted for more than two hours.
The conversation between Trump and Musk comes at a critical moment in the 2024 US election, with less than three months until the final election day on November 5. Current Vice President Kamala Harris has replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, and polls show that she has erased the lead that Trump held for much of the summer and is preparing to This has dealt a blow to a campaign that Trump and the Republican Party originally seemed to have a sure chance of winning.
Currently, Musk still ranks first on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of US$227.3 billion. His goal is to use his huge wealth to "wave the flag" for Trump, whom he supports. Musk has formed a new super PAC to fund the Republican candidate.
Interestingly, throughout Trump's exchange with Musk on Monday, there were several times when the former president sounded like he was slurring his words or slurring his words, which attracted attention online.
When asked if there was an explanation, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said: "That may be your hearing problem."
So, this battle between the "world's richest man" and the "US presidential candidate" What topics were discussed in the interviews?
Musk "expressed his loyalty": willing to play a role in the Trump administration
Musk proposed in this interview that If Trump can successfully win a second term, he will play a role in his administration to help Control government spending. It's a sign that the world's richest man is increasingly inserting himself into U.S. politics.
"I think it would be great if there could be a government efficiency commission to review these things and make sure that taxpayers' money, taxpayers' hard-earned money is spent wisely," Musk told Trump , "I would be happy to help such a committee."
Trump responded that he would be "very happy" if Musk participated and praised Musk as "the greatest cutter." He pointed to the cost-cutting measures Musk has taken at his own company.
US media also reported in May this year that Musk and Trump had discussed that the billionaire might play a role in Trump's government if he was re-elected, but Musk responded to the report at the time was rebutted.
A report released by the U.S. Treasury Department on Monday showed that the U.S. government recorded a fiscal deficit of US$244 billion in July, setting the second-highest record for the same period in history, second only to July 2021. This figure represents a significant increase of 10% from the same period last year.
Trump: It is unreasonable that the United States does not have high-speed rail
Trump said in an interview with Musk that it is "unreasonable" that the United States does not have high-speed rail.
"Bullet trains (high-speed trains)... are incredibly fast, incredibly comfortable, and have no problems. We don't have anything like this in our country, not even close," Trump Popular name.
He suggested achieving this goal through high-speed tunnels, which is one of the ideas of Musk's company The Boring Company. The purpose of the boring company is to solve the problem of ground traffic congestion in the United States.
However, it is worth mentioning that during the Trump administration in 2019, the U.S. Department of Transportation canceled nearly $1 billion in subsidy funds for the California high-speed rail system.
Slammed Harris and her running mate as "far left"
Musk called the current US Vice President Harris "far left", while former President Trump also said that his opponent in the 2024 election is a "radical left-wing lunatic" .
Musk said when talking to Trump: "They (Democrats) are rewriting history to make Harris sound like a moderate, but in fact, she is far left, very, very far left."
Special Trump interrupted, saying Harris was "worse than Vermont progressive independent Senator Bernie Sanders."
"She is considered more liberal than Bernie Sanders, she is a radical left-wing lunatic. If she were to be president, very quickly, your country would no longer exist," the former president said.
Trump later blasted Harris for choosing Walz as her running mate and criticized Minnesota's Democratic governor for a series of progressive policies he has signed in the state.
Musk actually said good and bad for the traditional energy industry
In a conversation with former President Trump, Musk also rarely defended the oil and gas industry. He believed that a large increase in carbon dioxide may cause breathing difficulties, but Maintaining current levels of greenhouse gas emissions will be sustainable for decades. Musk said, "This is not (as urgent) as a house on fire."
Musk is the world's most famous clean energy executive, so his comments are obviously jaw-dropping. Musk said the clean energy industry and the workers who work for it should not be "demonized" and that there is no need to take immediate action to replace fossil fuels. Musk, meanwhile, also defended his electric vehicle business, which came under attack during Trump's campaign.
In this regard, Trump has repeatedly stated in interviews that "nuclear warming" poses a greater threat than "global warming".
These remarks obviously aroused a lot of imagination, but Trump later clarified that he was referring to "nuclear energy is the greatest threat."
Musk disagreed with this view. He defended nuclear power generation, believing that the safety of nuclear power generation was widely misunderstood. Musk said, "It's not as scary as people think."
Trump finally seemed to admit this and suggested that nuclear power should be renamed. "You're right, maybe they have to change the name. We'll name it after you or something. It has a perception problem."
Trump reiterates: If elected, he wants to close the Department of Education
Trump on Monday In the interview, he also reiterated his claim that if he is re-elected, he will shut down the U.S. Department of Education.
Trump said one of his first actions would be to "shut down the Department of Education and shift the full force back to the states," adding that "out of the 50 states, I bet 35 will do a great job."
" Some of these places are poorly managed, but you know, it's almost going to force them to be managed better, and they might not do very well initially, but they won't be any worse than they are now," he added.
Trump made the same suggestion in a campaign video last year, joining other Republicans in making closing the Department of Education a priority during the 2024 Republican primaries. But eliminating the U.S. Department of Education does not mean states will have more power to control K-12 schools (schools from kindergarten through 12th grade). While federal agencies help the president implement education policy, the power to set curriculum, build schools, and determine admissions qualifications currently rests with state and local boards of education.
Since the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump has considered eliminating the Department of Education. When Trump was president, his administration proposed merging the Departments of Education and Labor into one federal agency as part of a larger plan to reorganize the government. The proposal required congressional approval and was never implemented. As president, Trump also sought to cut billions of dollars from the Department of Education's budget.
Trump: Texas is 'doing great' in business
Trump also sharply criticized California and praised Texas when it came to business. He also mentioned that Chevron has moved its headquarters from California moved to Houston.
Trump told Musk, "I saw you left California and moved to Texas. Texas is doing great."
Musk announced last month that two of his companies, SpaceX and X, would also move to Texas.
Trump blames Biden for inflation crisis
Trump said that inflation and border issues are people's top concerns. "People want to understand the state of the economy and the fact that we can't afford groceries...Inflation has killed them."
Trump also blamed current President Joe Biden for the inflation crisis, which has left many Americans are in trouble.
In mid-2022, the US CPI once reached a peak of 9.1%, setting the highest level in more than 40 years. "I think we're facing the worst inflation in 100 years. They say it's the worst inflation in 48 years. I don't believe it," Trump said.
Trump and Musk criticized the handling of the U.S. southern border
Trump and Musk also discussed immigration at length on Monday.
Musk said the United States needs to restrict illegal immigration and recounted his experience traveling to the southern border, saying the people he saw "didn't look friendly."
And Trump repeated his past rhetoric that other countries are sending criminals and mentally ill people across the U.S. border. He also blamed current Vice President Harris for border issues. The former president vowed that if elected, "we will conduct the largest deportations in the history of this country."
Trump once again attacked Harris for "copying" his proposal to eliminate the tip tax
Trump also once again attacked Harris for "copying" his proposal to eliminate the tip tax. Trump said, "Harris suddenly made a speech saying that tips will not be taxed. And I said that months ago."
At a rally in Las Vegas last weekend, Harris promised to promote Policies that benefit working families, and using the elimination of the tip tax as an example, are trying to gain support from the large service industry workers union in the key battleground state of Nevada. Trump first proposed the idea at a campaign rally in Las Vegas in June, accusing Harris of plagiarizing him.
"They do the exact opposite, by the way. You know, not only do they tax tips, they employ 88,000 IRS agents, many of whom are assigned to collect tips from waitresses and caddies," Trump told Musk.
Trump talks about the attack
In this interview, Trump also talked with Musk about the assassination attempt against him last month.
When Musk asked how the shooting felt for you, Trump responded: "Not pleasant."
Trump said of the moment the bullet hit his ear, "It was a pretty hard blow. You could say it felt surreal, but it wasn't. I told someone that some situations feel surreal to you. I'd never felt that way. I knew immediately That was a bullet."
Musk said one of the reasons he supported Trump for president was the former president's reaction to last month's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he praised Trump. Trump clenched his fists and was "very encouraging."
Trump added that his first question after he stepped down was "'How many people were killed?' because there were so many people there - thousands and thousands of people. ... So I asked 'How many people were killed?' Because I know there are other shots going off."
The former president has vowed to return to Butler, where the attack occurred, in October.
