Donald Trump recounted his assassination attempt in vivid detail and blamed the incident on "a lack of coordination" during an interview with Elon Musk that served as the former president's high-profile return to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter—a conversation that was plagued by technical glitches, the AP reports. "If I had not turned my head, I would not be talking to you right now—as much as I like you," Trump told Musk, X's owner. "There was a lack of coordination. ... Everybody understands that building should have been covered." The conversation did not begin as planned. With more than 878,000 users connected to the conversation more than 40 minutes after the scheduled start time, the interview had not yet begun. Many users received a message reading, "Details not available."
Trump's team posted that the "interview on X is being overwhelmed with listeners logging in." And once the meeting began, Musk apologized for the late start and blamed a "massive attack" that overwhelmed the company's system. (Experts who spoke to NBC News said there were no signs of such an attack.) Monday's meeting highlighted the evolving personal relationship between Trump and Musk, two of the world's most powerful men, who have shifted from being bitter rivals to unlikely allies over the span of one election season. Musk supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during the GOP primary. Notably, in May 2023, DeSantis used the social media 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.
Trump's Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, noted that Trump mocked DeSantis at the time. "Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!" Trump wrote in a message reposted by Harris' campaign Monday. Trump supporters were openly frustrated with the glitches that plagued his interview with Musk. "Not available????? I planned my whole day around this," wrote conservative commentator Glenn Beck. "Please let Elon know we can't join," billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted. This summary has been updated to reflect the reaction from experts to Musk's claims of a cyberattack. (In a reminder that the world was watching, the chat prompted a preemptive note of caution from Europe.)
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