Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Neptune to Launch a Creator-First, Customizable Algorithm Social Platform to Rival TikTok

19 hours ago

Kamala Harris Will Not Run for Governor of California in 2026

20 hours ago

Trump Pushes for Release of Epstein, Maxwell Grand Jury Testimony

22 hours ago

Trump Says US to Hit India With 25% Tariff Starting Friday

22 hours ago

Tariff Revenues Hit Record $150 Billion Amid Trump’s Trade Talks, Fox Business Reports

24 hours ago

Israeli Minister Hints at Annexing Parts of Gaza

24 hours ago

Fed Likely to Hold Rates Steady Despite Trump’s Push for Big Cuts

1 day ago

What’s Behind California’s Frozen Housing Market?

2 days ago

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is First Republican Lawmaker to Call Gaza Crisis a ‘Genocide’

2 days ago
Donald Trump Is Returning to X for a Live Interview With the Platform's Owner, Elon Musk
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 12 months ago on
August 12, 2024

Trump set for live interview on X with Elon Musk, marking his return to the platform after a two-year ban. (AP Photo)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Donald Trump is returning — at least for one night — to do a live interview Monday on X, the platform from which he was banned for nearly two years following the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Trump and Elon Musk, X’s owner, are slated to have what the tech titan has termed a “live conversation” at 8 p.m. Eastern Time that will be “unscripted with no limits on subject matter, so should be highly entertaining!” Musk is soliciting X users to pose their own questions.

A Platform for Political Discourse

The conversation serves not only as a way for the former president to reach potentially millions of voters directly. It’s also an opportunity for X, a platform that relies heavily on politics, to redeem itself after some struggles.

X has already been the scene of some of the 2024 cycle’s most memorable moments. As he skipped the first GOP presidential debate in August, Trump launched counterprogramming of his own, appearing in a taped interview with former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson, which aired on X. Last month, President Joe Biden broke the news of his departure from the campaign in a letter posted to the platform.

Also notably, in May 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used the platform as a way to officially announce his presidential bid, a disastrous rollout marred by technical glitches, overloaded by the more than 400,000 people who tried to dial in.

Musk’s Political Leanings

Ahead of his conversation with Trump, Musk posted on the platform that X was conducting “some system scaling tests” to handle what’s anticipated to be a high volume of participants.

Musk, who has described himself as a Democrat until a few years ago, endorsed Trump’s candidacy two days after the former president was wounded during an attempted assassination at a Pennsylvania rally last month.

Long before he endorsed Trump, Musk turned increasingly toward the right in his posts and actions on the platform, also using X to try to sway political discourse around the world. He’s gotten in a dustup with a Brazilian judge over censorship, railed against what he calls the “woke mind virus” and amplified false claims that Democrats are secretly flying in migrants to vote in U.S. elections.

Trump’s Return to X

Musk has also reinstated previously banned accounts such as the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Trump, who was kicked off the platform — then known as Twitter — two days after the Jan. 6 violence, with the company citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.” By November 2022, Musk had bought the company, and Trump’s account was reinstated, although the former president refrained from tweeting until Monday, insisting that he was happier on his own Truth Social site, which he launched during the ban.

Hours ahead of his interview with Musk, Trump posted a two-and-a-half minute video to his X account, featuring video from his time in office, as well as audio of him saying one of his standard campaign lines referencing the legal cases that have mounted against him: “They’re not coming after me, they’re coming after you, and I just happen to be standing in their way, and I will never be moving.”

But Trump’s audience on X is legions larger than on Truth Social, which became a publicly traded company earlier this year. Trump has just over 7.5 million followers on Truth Social, while his mostly dormant X account is followed by 88 million. Musk’s account, which will host the interview, has more than 193 million followers.

Trump’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a message as to whether he would cross-post his interview with Musk via his own accounts, including on X.

The former president has most recently posted on X only once, with a photo of his mug shot after he surrendered at an Atlanta jail a year ago on charges he conspired to overturn his election loss in the state.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Killed in Hit-and-Run, Suspect Vehicle Located

DON'T MISS

Wall Street Jumps as Microsoft Enters $4 Trillion Club After Results

DON'T MISS

Community and Saint Agnes Named Among Best Regional Hospitals

DON'T MISS

Jet Crashes in Fresno County Field, Pilot Aided by EMS

DON'T MISS

Madera Man Sentenced to 34 Years to Life in Fresno Murder Case

DON'T MISS

High Noon Recalls Mislabeled Vodka Seltzers Shipped in Celsius Cans, NBC Reports

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: New Fresno Ordinance Targets Vacant Blighted Properties

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Trustee Susan Wittrup Responds to $162,000 Payout

DON'T MISS

Visalia Suspect in Fatal Assault and Serial Sexual Battery Cases Arrested in Alaska

DON'T MISS

Canada Says It Intends to Recognize a Palestinian State in September

UP NEXT

Wall Street Jumps as Microsoft Enters $4 Trillion Club After Results

UP NEXT

Community and Saint Agnes Named Among Best Regional Hospitals

UP NEXT

Jet Crashes in Fresno County Field, Pilot Aided by EMS

UP NEXT

Madera Man Sentenced to 34 Years to Life in Fresno Murder Case

UP NEXT

High Noon Recalls Mislabeled Vodka Seltzers Shipped in Celsius Cans, NBC Reports

UP NEXT

Wired Wednesday: New Fresno Ordinance Targets Vacant Blighted Properties

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified Trustee Susan Wittrup Responds to $162,000 Payout

UP NEXT

Visalia Suspect in Fatal Assault and Serial Sexual Battery Cases Arrested in Alaska

UP NEXT

Canada Says It Intends to Recognize a Palestinian State in September

UP NEXT

Dubai Nut Processor Aims for October Opening in Fresno: Dyer

Jet Crashes in Fresno County Field, Pilot Aided by EMS

12 hours ago

Madera Man Sentenced to 34 Years to Life in Fresno Murder Case

15 hours ago

High Noon Recalls Mislabeled Vodka Seltzers Shipped in Celsius Cans, NBC Reports

16 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: New Fresno Ordinance Targets Vacant Blighted Properties

16 hours ago

Fresno Unified Trustee Susan Wittrup Responds to $162,000 Payout

16 hours ago

Visalia Suspect in Fatal Assault and Serial Sexual Battery Cases Arrested in Alaska

17 hours ago

Canada Says It Intends to Recognize a Palestinian State in September

17 hours ago

Dubai Nut Processor Aims for October Opening in Fresno: Dyer

17 hours ago

Costa Blasts GOP Over Medi-Cal Cuts. His 2026 Opponent Defends Them

18 hours ago

Trump Says US and Pakistan Have Concluded a Trade Deal

18 hours ago

Fresno Man Killed in Hit-and-Run, Suspect Vehicle Located

A 45-year-old Fresno man was found dead early Wednesday after an apparent hit-and-run crash on Jensen Avenue, the California Highway Patrol ...

4 minutes ago

4 minutes ago

Fresno Man Killed in Hit-and-Run, Suspect Vehicle Located

10 minutes ago

Wall Street Jumps as Microsoft Enters $4 Trillion Club After Results

47 minutes ago

Community and Saint Agnes Named Among Best Regional Hospitals

12 hours ago

Jet Crashes in Fresno County Field, Pilot Aided by EMS

Lavale Vean Jr., 28, was sentenced Wednesday, July 30, 2025, to 34 years to life in prison for the 2017 murder of Roberto Ramos in Fresno. (Fresno County SO)
15 hours ago

Madera Man Sentenced to 34 Years to Life in Fresno Murder Case

High Noon has recalled some vodka seltzers after they were accidentally labeled as Celsius energy drinks and shipped to six states. (Shutterstock)
16 hours ago

High Noon Recalls Mislabeled Vodka Seltzers Shipped in Celsius Cans, NBC Reports

16 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: New Fresno Ordinance Targets Vacant Blighted Properties

Fresno Unified Susan Wittrup
16 hours ago

Fresno Unified Trustee Susan Wittrup Responds to $162,000 Payout

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend