Billionaire Elon Musk joined President-elect Donald Trump on a phone call Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to multiple media reports.
The unnamed sources I spoke with The Washington Post Axios said Zelensky felt the call was positive. One of Axios’ sources said the call “did not leave Zelensky feeling hopeless.”
Axios reported that sources familiar with the details of the call said that the conversation between Trump and the Ukrainian leader lasted about 25 minutes, and Zelensky congratulated Trump on his victory in the presidential elections that took place this week.
Trump reportedly said he would support Ukraine without elaborating, while Musk reassured Zelensky that he would continue to help the war-torn country through his Starlink satellite internet service.
One of The Washington PostSources said Zelensky spoke about how important Starlink satellites were to Musk.
An unnamed Ukrainian official told… mail Zelensky “thanked” Musk for the internet service that the Eastern European country relies on for much of its communications in its ongoing war with Russia – which began in February 2022 when Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
Newsweek I reached out to Trump’s communications director, Stephen Cheung, Musk’s company that designs the Starlink satellites, SpaceX, as well as the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry via email for comment Friday afternoon.
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal It was reported last month that Musk had been in regular contact with Putin since late 2022 and that discussions had been confirmed by current and former US, European and Russian officials.
Musk did not respond magazineHe asked to comment on the story but previously said his companies “did more to undermine Russia than anything else.”
Meanwhile, Trump has spoken with Putin as many as seven times since he left the White House in 2021, most recently this year, according to legendary journalist Bob Woodward’s latest book, war. Woodward’s source for this report was an unnamed Trump aide.
Trump told ABC News that the report was “false,” adding that Woodward is “a storyteller. A bad one. He’s lost his wits.”
Musk’s relations with Trump
Musk, the leader of SpaceX, Tesla and X, endorsed Trump for president earlier this year, and his political action committee made a daily $1 million giveaway to registered voters in battleground states.
After endorsing the Republican presidential nominee, Musk poured millions of his own dollars into donations to pro-Trump super PACs and joined the former president during campaign rallies.
Trump has publicly praised Musk for his campaign efforts. At Trump’s election night party in Florida, Musk was the guest of honor, speaking privately with Trump during the event and getting a shoutout at the president-elect’s speech to his supporters.
Since the election, there has been some speculation that Musk might get a spot in Trump’s cabinet. Trump has indicated at least some openness to the idea of Musk driving cost-cutting across the federal government.
“He’s dying to do this,” Trump said of Musk in an interview with Fox News in October. “You know, he’s a great businessman, actually… and he’s a great cost-cutting guy… and he said, ‘I can cut costs without affecting anyone.'”
Updated 11/08/24 at 2:36 PM ET: This story has been updated to include more information.
Updated 11/08/24 at 3:34 PM ET: This story has been updated to include more information.
