Musk Praises Trump Again: "A Strong Leader Needed to Deal with Putin and Kim Jong-un"

Monthly $45 Million Donation Is Not True
Trump's Electric Vehicle Support Withdrawal Is Right in the Long Term

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, reiterated his support for former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate in the United States, emphasizing the need for a strong leader.

According to an interview video posted on X (formerly Twitter) on the 23rd (local time) by the conservative internet media outlet The Daily Wire, Musk CEO highlighted Trump’s response to an assassination attempt during a conversation with psychologist Jordan B. Peterson the previous day, saying, "We should respect Trump."

[Photo by Daily Wire X capture]

Musk CEO praised, "Trump raised his fist even while bleeding from being shot," adding, "This was courage born from instinct, not a planned or calculated action." He continued, "What kind of leader would be needed to deal with very tough people like Putin or Kim Jong-un?" and emphasized, "We need a strong leader like Trump."

This is not the first time Musk CEO has expressed support for former President Trump. Shortly after the Trump assassination attempt on the 13th, he also expressed support on X, stating, "The last time America had such a strong candidate was Theodore Roosevelt." However, he repeatedly denied media reports that he planned to donate $45 million monthly to the Trump campaign.

On the same day, Musk CEO explained on X, "I make a modest donation to America PAC (Trump’s political funding support group), but it is much smaller than what is known," adding, "The core values of America PAC are meritocracy and freedom. Most, but not all, Republicans stand on the side of these values." Earlier, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 15th, citing sources, that Musk CEO planned to donate $45 million monthly to a super PAC (political fundraising organization) supporting former President Trump’s campaign.

Musk CEO also spoke about artificial intelligence (AI). He criticized Larry Page, co-founder of Google, who said that in the future all human minds would be uploaded to computers, stating that AI companies "lack principles that respect humans." He added, "xAI engineers are fixing bugs ahead of the official launch of 'Grok 2,'" and said, "It will be on par with the latest model of ChatGPT." He also mentioned plans to unveil 'Grok 3,' the world’s most powerful AI chatbot, by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, during Tesla’s Q2 earnings conference call that day, Musk CEO assessed former President Trump’s pledge to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), saying, "It will slightly hurt Tesla but will be beneficial in the long term." Analysts believe that if the IRA, which provides up to $7,500 in tax credits to electric vehicle buyers, is repealed, Tesla’s competitors such as General Motors (GM) and Ford, which have benefited from it, will suffer significant damage. Some Tesla models have not benefited due to subsidy conditions requiring no Chinese-made parts.