I'm a believer now, illegal immigration saved my life: Donald Trump in Musk's interview

Elon Musk's highly anticipated interview with former President Donald Trump finally commenced after a 40-minute delay due to technical difficulties on X’s Spaces platform. The interview, originally scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EDT, was delayed after Musk announced on X that the platform was experiencing a "massive" denial-of-service attack (DDoS). This federal criminal act floods a site with excessive data, overwhelming it and knocking it offline.

According to outage tracker Downdetector, a surge in reports of X being inaccessible began just before the interview. However, it was not immediately confirmed if the issues were due to a malicious attack. Musk later opened the conversation by attributing the delay to a “massive distributed denial of service attack (DDoS)” on X’s servers. He hinted that the alleged cyberattack “illustrates there’s a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say.” X had encountered similar technical issues during Musk’s interview with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on X Spaces in May 2023, which Musk attributed to X’s servers being overwhelmed by traffic.

Musk questions Trump on assassination attempt

Musk started the interview with a question about the assassination attempt at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally last month. Trump responded, “I didn’t know I had that much blood,” while also describing the incident as the “best alternative you could think about” since he wasn’t more seriously injured. Trump shared that the experience deepened his faith, stating, “I’m a believer, now. I’m more of a believer in God, I think,” and suggested that he was targeted because of his stance on immigration.

Trump revealed plans to return to Butler, Pennsylvania, in October, where he survived the assassination attempt on July 13. Musk, in a lighthearted tone, suggested that the charts Trump was discussing moments before the gunshots may have saved his life. “I just want to say that I think a lot of people admire your courage under fire there,” Musk said. Trump later quipped, “Illegal immigration saved my life,” referencing the topic he was addressing when the shots were fired.

Interview sparks concerns and criticism

The conversation between Musk and Trump also drew cautionary remarks from Europe. Thierry Breton, the European Union’s commissioner for the internal market, expressed concerns over the potential “amplification of harmful content” that could result from broadcasting the interview. In a letter posted on X, Breton urged Musk to ensure that the platform adheres to EU regulations, specifically the Digital Services Act, which was enacted in 2022 to combat disinformation.

In response to Breton’s warning, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung criticized the EU, urging them to "mind their own business" rather than interfering in the U.S. presidential election. Cheung accused the EU of being "an enemy of free speech" and asserted that they had no authority to influence how the campaign is conducted.

Musk, who has recently distanced himself from his previous Democratic affiliation, endorsed Trump’s candidacy just days after the former president survived the assassination attempt at the Pennsylvania rally.