Elon Musk 'Has Been in Regular Contact' with Putin: Report
Kipp Jones Oct 24th, 2024, 10:49 pm
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
Billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk has had "regular contact" with Russian President Vladimir Putin since 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday night.
According to the newspaper, Musk has regularly communicated with Putin, who asked him not to activate his Starlink internet in Taiwan as a "favor" to Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Journalreported:
Elon Musk, the world's richest man and a linchpin of U.S. space efforts, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022. The discussions, confirmed by several current and former U.S., European and Russian officials, touch on personal topics, business and geopolitical tensions. At one point, Putin asked the billionaire to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, said two people briefed on the request. Starlink has never secured permission to offer internet service in Taiwan, whose government places restrictions on non-Taiwanese satellite operators. Taiwan is currently listed as "coming soon" on a Starlink map of where it provides service.
The exact nature of Musk's relationship with Putin remains unclear. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has spent years securing contracts with the U.S. Defense Department and his companies are highly subsidized.
Musk has spent much of the past year supporting former President Donald Trump's third White House bid. He has claimed on the campaign trail that the 2024 election will be the final election for the Oval Office if Vice President Kamala Harris wins.
News of Musk's reported communication line with Putin comes two weeks after Bob Woodward claimed Trump had remained in contact with Russia's leader since he left office in 2021.
Trump's campaign denied Woodward's claim, which was made in his new book War.
A shock to no one...
Oligarchs gonna oligarch.
This is very, very, dangerous. These "people' (Crooked Donald, Elon Musk Xi, Putin, Orbán, Jun Un, and Erdogan) trying to 'LINK UP" (pun intended) together and rule the world. . . using a blatant liar Crooked Donald to 'rule' in the United States. Now we can surely understand that they are talking together on how to gain the biggest prize of it all!: The United States!
And, the damned trumpists are sitting on their damn hands! It is a shame before God!
In a moment of confusion Musk asked Putin for dirt on Hillary Clinton.