Here's a look at Musk's contact with Putin & why it matters

Sunday, October 27, 2024

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of major government contractor SpaceX and a key ally of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the last two years, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Posted by LampLighter at 02:28 PM | 2 COMMENTS | permalink

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... A person familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, confirmed to The Associated Press that Musk and Putin have had contact through calls. The person didn't provide additional details about the frequency of the calls, when they occurred or their content.

Musk, the world's richest man who also owns Tesla and the social platform X, has emerged as a leading voice on the American right. He's poured millions of dollars into Trump's presidential bid and turned the platform once known as Twitter into a site popular with Trump supporters, as well as conspiracy theorists, extremists and Russian propagandists.

Musk's contacts with Putin raise national security questions, given his companies' work for the government, and highlight concerns about Russian influence in American politics.

Here's what to know:

What they talked about ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-10-27 02:29 PM

Another view...

NASA Administrator Nelson says report of Musk contacts with Putin 'concerning'
www.upi.com

... NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says reported secret conversations held between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin are "concerning" and, if true, should be investigated.

Speaking Friday an event hosted by the online news site Semafor, Nelson was asked about this week's story in the Wall Street Journal, which reported that Musk and Putin have been holding secret conversations on personal, political and business matters since 2022, even as Russia is prosecuting its brutal invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

In his role as the leader of SpaceX, Musk is a major commercial partner with NASA.

"[SpaceX] have been phenomenally successful," Nelson said Friday. "I don't know that that story is true. I think it should be investigated. If it's true there have been multiple conversations with Elon Musk and the president of Russia, then that would be concerning, particularly for NASA and the Department of Defense." ...