Elon Musk-Donald Trump interview on X faces multiple technical glitches; Musk blames 'massive DDOS attack'

Donald Trump, who is running for U.S. presidency again, recently gave a high-profile interview with billionaire Elon Musk on X (formerly Twitter). The live audio telecast was mired with technical issues at the start and also faced some hiccups in between. Elon Musk also acknowledged the issue attributing it to a DDOS attack. Musk also claimed that the live stream was already tested with 8 million concurrent listeners.

Musk said, "There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on X. Working on shutting it down. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later."

Ahead of the interaction, Donald Trump also announced his return to X after a year. 

We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today https://t.co/ymqGBFEJX0

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024

The interview was delayed by over 40 minutes due to technical difficulties that prevented many users from accessing the live stream. Musk suggested a possible cyberattack, though this remains unconfirmed. Despite the issues, more than a million listeners tuned in when the conversation finally began. Currently, the live Spaces episode has around 1.3 million listeners. 

The technical troubles were similar to an event on X in May 2023, when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faced glitches during the launch of his presidential campaign. The broadcast had sound outages and connection drops, frustrating many users. Trump, who later secured the Republican nomination over DeSantis, had mocked his rival’s struggle with X’s technical issues at the time.

This interview was Trump’s first appearance on X in a year. He used the opportunity to post multiple messages, including one reiterating his belief—without evidence—that the criminal cases against him are politically motivated. Trump's presence on X is significant as the platform was central to his communication strategy during his previous campaigns and presidency, especially before his account was suspended following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Elon Musk has become a much visible and an important supporter of Trump, despite previously backing Democratic President Joe Biden in 2020. Interestingly, Trump, who has often criticised electric vehicles, has softened his tone on the issue.