WSJ: Elon Musk has been in constant contact with Vladimir Putin since 2022
By avagrace // 2024-11-01
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Big Tech mogul Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the past two years to discuss personal topics, business and geopolitical tensions, according to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report. The said information was confirmed by several current and former U.S., European and Russian officials. According to the report, sources told WSJ that Putin asked the billionaire to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. This year, Musk has expressed his support for the presidential candidacy of former President Donald Trump. Some observers even predict the technocrat getting a crucial role in the Trump administration should the former win again. (Related: Elon Musk announces daily $1 million prize for online petition signatures supporting U.S. Constitution, Trump campaign.) Critics believe that the implications of communication between Musk and Putin are enormous for Western security. The Tesla tycoon is a key player in the U.S. space program and has a high-level security clearance. His company SpaceX launches U.S. national security satellites, his Starlink satellite communications system is critical to the war in Ukraine and he runs one of the world's biggest and most influential social media platforms. Some observers also believe that Musk's dialogue could signal re-engagement with the Russian leader and reinforce Trump's expressed desire to cut a deal over major fault lines such as the war in Ukraine. Because of the role of Musk in the Trump campaign, he has established strong business ties with U.S. military and intelligence agencies, giving him unique visibility into some of America's most sensitive space programs. SpaceX, which operates the Starlink service, won a $1.8 billion classified contract in 2021 and is the primary rocket launcher for the Department of Defense and NASA. A Pentagon spokesman said: "We do not comment on any individual's security clearance, review or status or about personnel security policy matters in the context of reports about any individual’s actions." One person aware of the conversations said the government faces a dilemma because it is so dependent on the billionaire's technologies. SpaceX launches vital national security satellites into orbit and is the company NASA relies on to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station. "They don't love it," the person said, referring to the Musk-Putin contacts. The person, however, said no alerts have been raised by the administration over possible security breaches by Musk. "If the story is true that there have been multiple conversations between Elon Musk and the president of Russia then I think that would be concerning, particularly for NASA, for the Defense Department, for some of the intelligence agencies," he said, speaking at Semafor's World Economy Summit.

Mixed reactions from White House, Kremlin, NASA and Trump campaign

White House officials acknowledged the WSJ story. "I've seen the reporting out of the Wall Street Journal," said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council. "I'm not in a position to corroborate the veracity of those reports, and we would refer you to Musk to speak to his private communications." On the other hand, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the only communication the Kremlin has had with Musk was over one telephone call in which he and Putin discussed "space as well as current and future technologies." Moreover, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said he is concerned about reports that Musk has had discussions with Putin. According to the article, the discussions between Musk and Putin included a request by Putin that SpaceX not activate its Starlink service over Taiwan, as Russia sought to win support from China. SpaceX does not provide Starlink service in Taiwan, but it is unclear if that request was a factor. "I don't know that that story is true," Nelson said at the conference. "I think it should be investigated. If the story is true that there have been multiple conversations between Elon Musk and the president of Russia, then I think that would be concerning, particularly for NASA, for the Department of Defense, for some of the intelligence agencies." Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Trump's campaign lauded Musk and called him "a once-in-a-generation industry leader," adding that "our broken federal bureaucracy could certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency." She continued: "As for Putin, there's only one candidate in the race that he did not invade another country under, and it's former President Trump. Former President Trump has long said that he will reestablish his peace through strong foreign policy to deter Russia's aggression and end the war in Ukraine." Visit ElonMuskWatch.com for more stories like this. Elon Musk says this will be the last election if Trump doesn't win. Watch this video. This video is from the Friendly Evangelist channel on Brighteon.com.

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