Donald Trump appears to have extended an olive branch to Elon Musk, as the tech billionaire seemingly praised the US President’s decision to strike Venezuela. The US President took to social media platform Truth Social on January 3, just hours after delivering a press conference focused on the overnight strike on Venezuela.
On Truth Social, Mr Trump shared two X messages from tech billionaire Mr Musk. In the first one, Mr Musk reposted a message from the White House, reading: “God bless the United States military.” The world’s richest man simply added: “Yes”. In the second message of Mr Musk reposted by Mr Trump, the Tesla founder and CEO shared another message in which he was quoted as saying: “I am a citizen of the United States and have only that passport. No matter what happens, I will fight for and die in America.”
Seemingly showing renewed support for the message, Mr Musk commented: “Yes.”
Mr Musk had originally written that message in September 2023, in response to criticism over his decision not to give Ukraine access to his Starlink communications network over Russia-occupied Sevastopol one year prior, as Kyiv allegedly wanted to hit Russian ships in the area. Starlink terminals connect to SpaceX satellites in orbit and have been crucial for maintaining internet connectivity in Ukraine as Russian attacks have disrupted civilian infrastructure.
Mr Musk said in 2023 he hadn’t granted Ukraine its request not to make SpaceX “complicit in a major act of war”.
In the X message partially re-shared today, Mr Musk also said: “The United States Congress has not declared war on Russia. If anyone is treasonous, it is those who call me such. Please tell them that very clearly.”
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