On August 13, Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, gave an interview to entrepreneur Elon Musk on the platform X. Prior to the interview, the social network was subjected to a massive DDoS attack, according to Musk. The broadcast attracted around 1.3 million viewers.
Listen live! https://t.co/BmsfJto4sW
— X (@X) August 13, 2024
The conversation began with Trump recounting an assassination attempt he survived at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
“It was unpleasant. […] It was a miracle that I tilted my head at a different angle. When we lay on the floor, bullets continued to fly over us. […] I realized the wound was not serious and I wanted to get up to show I was okay,” he said.
He attributed the incident to insufficient coordination among law enforcement agencies—the Secret Service reacted quickly but could not prevent the situation.
Trump outlined his policy proposals on illegal immigration, promising “the largest deportation in the history of this country.” He blamed current U.S. President Joe Biden for global wars and inflation, adding that Kamala Harris is “just as bad.”
Trump expressed the need to lower energy prices while praising Tesla electric vehicles as a “magnificent product.”
“I learned that AI, which you are a big fan of, requires twice as much energy as our country produces. We will have to increase production to compete with China in this sector,” Trump noted.
Musk, in turn, suggested creating a “government efficiency commission,” which he could lead. The politician supported the idea.
“You definitely have a prolific mind, Elon. We can talk about tunnels, rockets, electric cars, and much more. Now you’ve taken on AI, and it will be another beauty,” Trump remarked at the end of their conversation.
After the broadcast, Musk invited Kamala Harris for a similar interview.
Happy to host Kamala on an ? Spaces too
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024
Harris’s campaign responded to the broadcast, accusing Trump of extremism and the danger of his program.
Our statement on… whatever that was pic.twitter.com/bOZfUu8rbk
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 13, 2024
“Trump’s entire campaign is aimed at serving people like Elon Musk and himself—self-absorbed rich people who will sell out the middle class and can’t even run a live stream in 2024,” they wrote.
Not a Word on Crypto
During the conversation, neither the politician nor the businessman mentioned cryptocurrencies, despite community expectations. The prediction platform Polymarket opened a series of bets on specific words Trump might say.
65% of users wagered over $600,000 on the mention of “cryptocurrencies,” and 69% bet about $330,000 on “bitcoin.”
A bet of more than $250,000 on the word “Tesla,” supported by 79%, did not pay off. Trump referred to Musk’s electric car brand as “your cars.”
The largest win, over $1 million, went to a user named bama124. He correctly predicted that Trump would not say “cryptocurrency,” earning $336,918.
In anticipation of the interview, political meme tokens referencing Trump showed significant growth. Specifically, MAGA Hat (MAGA) rose nearly 50%, MAGA: Fight for Trump (TRUMPCOIN) by 30%, Dark Maga (DMAGA) by 15%, and MAGA (TRUMP) by 12.7%.
However, they soon plummeted in value. The token DMAGA showed the largest decline at 41.63%.
The meme coin Elon Trump (ET), created in the spring of 2024, remains in the positive with an 11.13% increase.
In recent months, Donald Trump has positioned himself as a “crypto president,” promising industry support and regulatory policy changes. He accepts donations in digital currencies, proposes paying off national debt with bitcoin, and aims to make the U.S. a “mining superpower.”
Kamala Harris has not yet publicly commented on cryptocurrencies, but industry representatives have launched a campaign in her support.