Donald Trump has announced that he will be interviewed by Elon Musk next Monday (August 12th).
Trump posted on his own social media platform, Truth Social, saying, On Monday night I'll be doing a major interview with Elon Musk - Details to follow!
According to available information, in May of this year, there were reports that Musk's social media company, X platform, planned to hold a live video conference with former President Trump before the U.S. election. Musk then retweeted this news, implying that Trump might livestream on the X platform.
For many years, Trump has been a top user of Twitter (now renamed X platform) until the platform announced the ban on his account in 2021 for inciting his supporters to riot at the U.S. Capitol.
This ban was lifted after Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion. On August 24th last year, Trump logged back into his X platform account after more than two and a half years and posted a close-up photo of himself, declaring Never surrender.
Although the X platform has been opened to Trump, he still chooses to reside daily on Truth Social. Truth Social is owned by the publicly traded Trump Media, whose major shareholder is the former president.
Therefore, if the dialogue that Trump has announced is live-streamed on the X platform, it will mean that Trump will make an appearance on the X platform again after a year.
Last month, Trump was targeted for assassination at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The bullet went through his right ear but did not take his life. About half an hour after the incident, Musk announced his support for Trump's candidacy, breaking the long-standing tradition of neutrality claimed by social media platform leaders.
Musk also created and funded a political action committee to support Trump's campaign, called America PAC. It is reported that Musk himself will also make a large donation to Trump. Although the amount is not as much as the rumored $45 million a month, it is enough to make Trump often mention it, and the amount should not be small.
In response to Musk's enthusiasm, Trump often mentions that Musk is a key ally during his campaign activities.
At the campaign rally in Georgia last weekend, Trump told the crowd: I'm for electric cars. I have to be because Elon endorsed me very strongly. So I have no choice.
However, recently, the America PAC created by Musk has been under the attention of the North Carolina Attorney General's Office and the Michigan Secretary of State.
Last Sunday (August 4th), a spokesperson for the Michigan Secretary of State's office said in a statement that the America PAC committee is under investigation in Michigan for its behavior of collecting voter information, which may violate state law.
On Monday (August 5th), the North Carolina State Board of Elections said that after receiving complaints that the organization collected personal data from website users and failed to help users register to vote as promised, it has launched an investigation into America PAC.