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A new report reveals that Elon Musk regularly met for two years with Vladimir Putin, and has faced pressure from him in recent months.
Elon Musk, one of Trump’s biggest donors who has been campaigning for Trump, has been having secret conversations with Vladimir Putin since 2022.
According to WSJ, Putin asked Musk not to activate Starlink over Taiwan. pic.twitter.com/4zOLSfXraQ
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A new report claims that tech billionaire Elon Musk has talked frequently with Russian President Vladimir Putin for at least two years. Various sources including former and current U.S., Russian, and European officials stated that conversations between the two ranged from personal to political. The report also said that some officials in the Biden administration were unaware of the extent of their communication.
Details given in the report include “implicit threats” from Russia towards Musk. “In May 2022, Russia’s space chief said in a post on Telegram that Musk would ‘answer like an adult’ for supplying Starlink to Ukraine’s Azov battalion, which the Kremlin had singled out for the ultraright ideology espoused by some members,” said the Wall Street Journal. Soon after on X, formerly Twitter, Musk (who owns the platform) would publicly post that SpaceX was losing money funding those terminals and has been extremely vocal in opposing more American aid to Ukraine.
The article details that Musk also frequently spoke with Sergei Kiriyenko, Putin’s first deputy chief of staff. Kiriyenko has been accused of sowing disinformation online by creating internet domains on social media including X to influence the upcoming presidential election. In addition, the Tesla founder allegedly did not activate Starlink satellites serving the nation of Taiwan as requested by Putin as a favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The news comes as Musk has thrown his full support behind former President Donald Trump’s election campaign, even potentially violating the law by promising $1 million a day to voters in Pennsylvania and other swing states. “If people like Musk get Trump reelected, they’ll expect all kinds of regulatory gifts in their favor,” said Fiona Hill, the former senior director of European affairs to the White House. She remarked that the relationship is not unlike how Russia has cultivated oligarchs and warned of the danger: “He is in a position to command government contracts, potentially with a government position, and there are loads of militaries around the world dependent on his systems, not least Ukraine.”
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Donald Trump and his connection to President Vladimir Putin have come under scrutiny over time and a new book from longtime journalist Bob Woodward delves deeper into the ties. In Woodward’s latest book War, the author shares details of Donald Trump sending COVID-19 tests to Vladimir Putin, holding telephone conversations with the Russian leader, and more.
The explosive details shared in Woodward’s new book reveal Trump’s deeper ties to Putin than previously reported. As seen in a report from CNN, which obtained an advanced copy of the book, Woodward wrote that Trump secretly sent COVID-19 tests to the Russian leader for Putin’s use and this occurred during the height of the pandemic that ravaged the United States.
Woodward also shared in his writings that Trump called Putin at least seven times since leaving office, further solidifying their relationship with one another.
More from CNN:
During the height of the pandemic, Russia and the United States did exchange medical equipment such as ventilators. But Putin — who infamously isolated himself over fears of Covid — told Trump on a phone call to keep the delivery of the Abbott machines quiet, Woodward reports.
“Please don’t tell anybody you sent these to me,” Putin said to Trump, according to Woodward.
“I don’t care,” Trump replied. “Fine.”
“No, no,” Putin said. “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me. They don’t care about me.”
Donald Trump and his team have denied Woodward’s account of the events laid out in Woodward’s book.
Woodward also highlights candid conversations held by President Joe Biden, including one especially profanity-laced exchange regarding Putin and another highlighting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Kremlin confirmed via spokesperson Dmitry Peskov that Trump did indeed send the COVID-19 equipment as told to Bloomberg News. Peskov did say to Russian outlet RBC that Trump and Putin did not speak on the phone at the rate Woodward said in his book.
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