Plagued by technical issues, Trump-Musk interview on X gets off to a rocky start

A much-touted interview between former President Donald Trump and X owner Elon Musk got off to a late start on Monday after a lengthy technical delay that both men spun, without evidence, as an effort to silence them.

The conversation did not have a smooth start. As people tried to tune in, many were unable to, with an X message stating that the Spaces audio feed was unavailable. It finally began about 40 minutes later than advertised. Musk blamed a cyberattack, but he has not provided any evidence to support that, and the rest of the website appeared to be operating normally.

The hiccups were reminiscent of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s botched campaign rollout on X, then known as Twitter, last year, which was plagued with technical glitches and abruptly ended after 20 minutes.

On Monday, Musk, who has endorsed Trump, kicked off the interview by seeming to acknowledge his questions would not put pressure on the former president: “No one is really themselves in an adversarial interview,” Musk said. “It's hard to catch a vibe about someone if you don't hear them talk in just a normal way."

They spent the first 20 minutes discussing the assassination attempt on Trump at a July rally in Butler, PA, during which Musk’s Trump support was on clear display.

Musk praised Trump for standing and raising his fist after being shot at.

“I think a lot of people admire your courage under fire,” Musk added.

After that, the two men transitioned into a subject they agree on: illegal immigration and what they see as the Biden administration’s failure to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

It marked the first major re-appearance of Trump on X, formerly known as Twitter, since Musk reinstated his account following his purchase of the platform in