On Monday night, the highly anticipated live interview between Elon Musk and Donald Trump on the X platform finally took place after a minor incident that forced a delay of more than 40 minutes due to technical glitches. These two superstars of American social media also exchanged views on several core topics of concern to the U.S. public.
The interview lasted for over two hours.
The conversation between Trump and Musk comes at a critical moment in the 2024 U.S. election, with less than three months to go until the final election day on November 5th. The current Vice President, Kamala Harris, has now replaced President Biden as the Democratic nominee, and polls show that she has erased the lead that Trump had maintained for most of the summer and is far ahead in fundraising. This has brought a shock to Trump and the Republican Party's seemingly sure campaign.
Musk's Loyalty: Willing to Play a Role in the Trump Administration
In this interview, Musk proposed that if Trump can successfully win a second term, he will play a role in his administration to help control government spending. This shows that this world's richest man is integrating himself more and more into American politics.
During the conversation, Musk thinks it would be great if a government efficiency committee could be established to review these things and ensure that taxpayers' money, taxpayers' hard-earned money, is spent where it's needed, and he would be happy to help such a committee.
Trump responded by saying that he would be very happy if Musk were involved and praised Musk as the greatest cutter. He mentioned the cost-cutting measures Musk has taken in his own companies.
In May of this year, the U.S. media also reported that Musk and Trump had discussed the possibility of this billionaire playing a role in his government if Trump were re-elected, but Musk denied this report at the time.
Musk Surprisingly Spoke Well of the Traditional Energy Industry
In the conversation with former President Trump, Musk also rarely defended the oil and natural gas industry, saying that a significant increase in carbon dioxide could lead to difficulty breathing, but maintaining the current level of greenhouse gas emissions would be sustainable for decades. Musk said, It's not like the house is on fire (urgent).
As the most famous executive of clean energy companies in the world, Musk's remarks are obviously astonishing. Musk said that the clean energy industry and its workers should not be demonized, and there is no need to take immediate action to replace fossil fuels. At the same time, Musk also defended his electric vehicle business, which was attacked during Trump's campaign.
In this regard, Trump said several times in the interview, that Nuclear warming poses a greater threat than global warming.
These remarks obviously led to a lot of speculation, but Trump later clarified that he meant nuclear energy is the biggest threat.
Musk disagreed with this view and defended nuclear power generation, saying that the safety of nuclear power generation is widely misunderstood.
Trump finally seemed to admit this and suggested that nuclear power should change its name. You're right, maybe they should change the name. We will use your name or something else to name it. It has a cognitive problem.
Trump: If Elected, He Wants to Close the Ministry of Education
Trump also reiterated his position in the interview on Monday, that if he is elected again, he will close the U.S. Department of Education.
Trump said that one of his first actions would be to close the Ministry of Education and transfer all efforts back to the States since some places are managed very poorly, and he believes this change will almost force them to manage better.
Trump proposed the same idea in his campaign video last year, which is the same as other Republicans' goal of making the closure of the Ministry of Education a priority during the 2024 Republican primaries. However, abolishing the U.S. Department of Education does not mean that states can have more control over K-12 schools (schools from kindergarten to 12th grade). Although the federal agency helps the president implement education policies, the power to set curriculums, establish schools, and determine enrollment qualifications is already in the hands of state and local education committees.
Since the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump has been considering the abolition of the Ministry of Education. When Trump was president, his administration proposed to merge the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor into a federal agency as part of a larger plan to reorganize the government. The proposal required congressional approval and was never implemented. When Trump was president, he also tried to cut the Ministry of Education's budget by tens of billions of dollars.
Trump Attributed the Inflation Crisis to Biden
Trump said that inflation and border issues are the most concerning issues for people. He attributed the inflation crisis to President Biden, which has put many Americans in a difficult situation.
In mid-2022, the U.S. CPI once reached a peak of 9.1%, the highest level in more than 40 years. I think we are 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 issues in detail on Monday.
Musk said that the United States needs to limit illegal immigration, and he talked about his experience at the southern border, saying that the people he saw did not look friendly.
Trump repeated his past rhetoric that other countries are sending criminals and mentally ill people across the U.S. border. He also blamed the border issue on the current Vice President Harris. The former president vowed that once elected, we will carry out the largest deportation operation in the history of this country.
Trump Talks About the Assassination Attempt
Trump also discussed with Musk the attempted assassination against him last month.
Speaking about the moment the bullet hit his ear, Trump said it was a heavy blow. It can be said that it felt surreal, but it was not. I told someone that there are some situations that make you feel surreal. I've never felt that way. I knew immediately it was a bullet.
Musk stated that one of the reasons he supports Trump's campaign for president is the former president's reaction to the assassination attempt rally held in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month, and praised Trump's fist-pumping as very inspiring.
Notably, the former president has vowed to return to Butler, the site of the attack, this October.
Here's the link for full transcripts of the interview:
https://turboscribe.ai/transcript/share/4422534834081521519/HWE18owsC2u8E5u2HpZNikyBdermlV2YSwGlTEPKJJw/donald-trump-and-elon-musk-full-transcript-august-12-2024-https-x-com-i-spaces-1nakepnklwoxl