New York: Donald Trump recounted his assassination attempt, talked about Israel's war on Gaza, promised the largest deportation in US history, claimed Joe Biden's exit was a coup, as he spoke to Elon Musk in an interview broadcast live on X on Tuesday morning (India time).
The interview was plagued with technical issues with many users unable to access the conversation, which finally began 41 minutes after its initial start time.
“If I had not turned my head, I would not be talking to you right now — as much as I like you," Trump told X’s owner Elon Musk. Musk, a former Trump critic, said the Republican nominee's toughness, as demonstrated by his reaction to last month's shooting, was critical for national security. “There’s some real tough characters out there," Musk said. "And if they don’t think the American president is tough, they will do what they want to do.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2024
'Biden's exit was a coup'
Trump during the interview claimed that Joe Biden was forced to drop out of the US Presidential race due to a "coup". "I beat Biden so bad in the debate, he was forced out of the race - one of the greatest debate performances ever. Biden's exit, it was a coup." the 78-year-old said. Doubling down on Trump's claim, Musk said, "They basically took him behind a shed and shot him."
The rare public conversation between Trump and Musk, which spanned more than three hours and was overwhelmingly friendly, revealed little new about Trump’s plans for a second term. The former president spent much of the discussion focused on his recent assassination attempt, illegal immigration and his plans to cut government regulations.
Still, the online meeting underscored just how much the U.S. political landscape has changed less than four years after Trump was permanently banned by the social media platform’s former leadership for spreading disinformation that sparked the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress and undermined the very foundation of the American democracy.
Trump and Musk chatted on a variety of issues, with much of Trump’s responses mirroring some of the multitopic stem-winding that’s typical of his rallies and speeches.
That included anecdotes about his interactions with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as critiques on what both men characterized as Democrats’ failures in securing the U.S.-Mexico border and tamping down crime in American cities.
There was also specific discussion of Harris, with both Trump and Musk warning of the direction into which they felt she would lead the U.S. as president. Much of the convivial back and forth sounded less like a newsmaker interview and more like a conversation between similarly minded allies. Musk endorsed Trump just after the assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania campaign rally last month.
Trump says illustration of Harris looks like Melania
Trump likened the recent Time magazine cover illustration of Harris to another highly visible woman adjacent to American politics: his own wife. “She looked very much like our great first lady, Melania,” Trump told Musk, as they discussed the cover image of Monday’s issue.
Time’s new cover story on Harris features the phrase, “Her Moment,” alongside a black-and-white illustration of the vice president. The magazine has caught some critique for putting out the story, for which Harris declined to be interviewed, amid Republican reproval that she hasn’t sat for a media interview since Biden quit the campaign, making way for her.
Iron dome for US
Donald Trump told Elon Musk that he plans to build a top-tier Iron Dome system in the US, similar to Israel's. He emphasized that the system would be the best in the world, fully manufactured in the United States, to ensure national protection.
World War 3
Donald Trump said the situation in the Middle East could escalate into a third world war. "An attack on Israel wouldn’t have happened if I were in office. Everyone is anticipating an Iranian attack on Israel, but the Iranians won’t attack. I could’ve stopped the Ukraine war, any smart president would have been able to. The October 7 attack would not have happened and the Ukraine war would not have broken out if I were president," he said.
Trump Praises Russia, China and North Korea
Donald Trump praised Russia, China and North Korea heads saying that they are at the top of their game and the US needs a strong president to tackle them. "(Vladimir) Putin, Xi (Jinping), Kim Jong Un are at the top of their game," Trump said during the interview. He said that these leaders, who are often referred to as dictators, love their country, but "it is a different form of love".
Referring to Biden as "sleepy Joe", Trump also claimed Russia wouldn't have invaded Ukraine if it hadn't been for Biden. "I got along with Putin very well, and he respected me. We would talk about Ukraine. It was the apple of his eye. But I told him don't do it," he claimed.
Trump praises president of Argentina
Trump praised Argentina President Javier Milei and his extreme austerity measures that have laid off more than 70,000 public sector workers and cut pensions by 30% to reverse spending that caused the country to default on its debts.
“He’s great,” Trump told Musk. “I hear he’s doing really a terrific job. He’s going to make Argentina great again.” Annual inflation in the South American country still tops 270%, among the highest rates in the world, outpacing salaries. And unemployment has become a bigger concern for the leader as the government freezes infrastructure projects.
Trump replays the hits
Trump’s friendly interview with Musk revealed little new information about the former president's thinking or his plans should he win a second term. Trump has spent much of the conversation discussing his favorite topics, including the border and illegal immigration.
Fact Focus: Trump's immigration claim is unsubstantiated
Trump: “You have millions of people coming in a month. And they have another 5 months.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 7.1 million arrests for illegal crossings from Mexico between January 2021 and June 2024. That’s arrests, not people. Under pandemic-era asylum restrictions, many people made multiple crossing attempts until they succeeded because there were no legal consequences for getting turned back to Mexico. So the number of people is lower than the number of arrests.
In addition, CBP said it stopped migrants 1.1 million times at official land crossings with Mexico between January 2021 and June 2024, largely under an online appointment system to claim asylum called CBP One.
U.S. authorities also admitted nearly 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela under presidential authority if they had financial sponsors and arrived at an airport. All told, that’s nearly 8.7 million encounters. Again, the number of people is lower due to multiple encounters for some. (With AP inputs)
