Donald (born 1946)

First there was a massive delay, but then tech billionaire Elon Musk and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke for about two hours. Read everything you need to know about the conversation here.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has invited Donald Trump for a conversation. Conveniently on Musk’s own platform X, which used to be called Twitter.

Due to technical problems, the conversation started almost three quarters of an hour late – according to Musk, massive cyberattacks were responsible for this.

You can find all developments in the US election campaign here in the news blog.

The two men spoke for more than two hours after the conversation finally got underway: about US domestic policy, foreign policy, the economy and his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris. More than a million X users followed the conversation live.

Read Trump’s most important statements here:

Trump on Biden:

Former President Trump has repeatedly called his successor in office “stupid”. Trump described US President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race for the White House as a “coup”. After weeks of debate about his mental ability to run for a second term, 81-year-old Biden announced that he would not be running in the presidential election in November. Kamala Harris has since been nominated as the new Democratic presidential candidate. During the interview, Trump also said that with him as president, there would not have been such high inflation in the USA.

Trump on the assassination:

Referring to the shooting at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July, Trump said: “I didn’t know I had that much blood.” Not being more seriously injured was “the best alternative you can imagine.” “I’m a believer now. I think I believe in God more now,” he said.

Trump on Harris:

Trump claims to have recognized a resemblance to his wife Melania in the depiction of his rival Kamala Harris on the recent cover of Time Magazine. “She looked very much like our great First Lady Melania,” Trump said to tech billionaire Elon Musk, who interviewed him on his platform X. The cover of the magazine contains the words “Her Moment.”

Trump on foreign policy:

In his conversation with Musk, Trump repeatedly emphasized his relationships with rulers such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The USA would be safer under his presidency, he continued. During the conversation, Trump was given the opportunity to repeat his campaign themes. He did not receive any opposition from Musk – the 78-year-old even received some support for his claims. Trump again claimed that with him as president, neither the Russian invasion of Ukraine nor the Hamas attack on Israel would have happened.

Trump on climate change:

The Republican also downplayed the threat posed by global climate change. “The biggest threat is not global warming, which will cause sea levels to rise by an eighth of an inch (3.175 millimeters) over the next 400 years,” he said. He did not back up the claim with facts and tried to put a positive spin on climate change by asking, “You’re going to have more oceanfront property, right?” The biggest threat, however, is “nuclear warming.” There are five countries that are major nuclear powers.

Trump on migration:

One of Donald Trump’s “favorite topics.” Trump is particularly concerned about immigration at the US-Mexico border. Millions of people will be coming to the US within a month, he claimed – and the US government will be in office for another five months, Trump told Musk. During his term as president, Trump had a meter-high fence installed along parts of the border. The ex-president also claimed that the heads of government of other nations were deliberately sending criminals and “their unproductive people” to America.

The US Border Patrol, meanwhile, said it had prevented migrants from crossing the border at official land crossings in 1.1 million cases between January 2021 and June 2024. From January 2021 to June 2024, the agency reported 7.1 million arrests at the border – with multiple arrests included in the statistics. Under a presidential decree, 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela were also allowed into the country if they had financial sponsors and entered via an airport.

AFP/AP/dpa/me