Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's conversation with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk finally got underway on Musk's social media platform X on Monday evening, following a lengthy delay caused by technical problems that kept many users from accessing the livestream.

Musk, who has endorsed Trump, began the event at 8:42 p.m. ET, more than 40 minutes after the scheduled start time. He blamed the difficulties on a distributed denial-of-service attack, a type of cyberattack in which a server or network is flooded with traffic in an attempt to shut it down, though his claim was not confirmed.

More than 1.3 million people were listening about 45 minutes into the conversation, according to a counter on X.

Trump sought to turn the problems into a positive, congratulating Musk on the number of people trying to tune in.

The former U.S. president sounded at times as if he had a lisp, many listeners on X pointed out. Some said it made him sound like a cartoon. Others suggested it could be due to audio compression issues.

The technical problems recalled a similar event in May 2023, when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suffered a chaotic start to his bid for the Republican presidential nomination due to glitches on the platform.

At the time, Trump mocked DeSantis on his own social media platform, Truth Social: "My Red Button is bigger, better, stronger, and is working (TRUTH!)" Trump posted. "Yours does not."

Ahead of Monday's event, Musk had written, "Am going to do some system scaling tests tonight & tomorrow in advance of the conversation." X did not respond to requests for details or evidence of the alleged cyberattack.

Musk spent much of the early part of the discussion lauding Trump for his bravery during the attempt on his life on July 13, in which his ear was struck by a bullet.

Musk, one of the richest people in the world, announced his support for Trump shortly after the shooting. He had backed Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden in 2020, but has tacked rightward since.

Musk blamed the difficulties on a distributed denial-of-service attack, a type of cyberattack in an attempt to shut it down, though his claim was not confirmed. (Rick Rycroft/The Associated Press)

Trump said he plans to return to Butler, Pa., the site of the attack, for a rally in October.

As the conversation unfolded, Trump delivered his usual mix of grievances, exaggerated claims and personal attacks, with Musk offering occasional encouragement.

Trump claimed without evidence that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if he were still president and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un — all authoritarian strongmen — as being at the "top of their game."

He also expressed anger that U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris had been swapped in for Biden on the Democratic ticket.

"She hasn't done an interview since this whole scam started," Trump said, claiming falsely that Biden dropping off the ticket was a "coup." Trump had been leading Biden in many polls of battleground states likely to be critical to the outcome of the Nov. 5 election. However, he is now trailing Harris in some of those same states.

Light on policy detail

In an conversation that was light on policy detail, Trump also appeared to praise Musk for firing workers.

"You're the greatest cutter. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you just say: 'You want to quit?' They go on strike — I won't mention the name of the company — but they go on strike. And you say: 'That's OK, you're all gone.'"

 

Trump goes on offence with Elon Musk interview

The venue provided an opportunity for Trump to seize the limelight at a time when his campaign is facing new headwinds.

Harris has erased Trump's lead in opinion polls and energized Democratic voters with a series of high-energy rallies. Her momentum could get another boost from the Democratic National Convention next week in Chicago.

Trump returned to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday morning for the first time in a year, posting a video highlighting his claim without evidence that the four criminal prosecutions he faces are politically motivated.

He quickly followed with a half-dozen other posts, reviving an account that served as a main method of communication in previous campaigns and his four years in the White House, including his followers' Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.