Trump tells Musk he hopes to 'get along' with Xi, Putin in X interview

Donald Trump again touted his personal relationship with leaders of China, Russia and North Korea and repeated other familiar talking points in a chat with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on X that was delayed by technical difficulties.

The interview between the Republican presidential candidate and the tech billionaire was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET, but Musk blamed a cyberattack for a more than 40-minute delay.

"They're at the top of their game, they're tough, they're smart, they're vicious and they're going to protect their country," Trump said of China's Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un of North Korea.

"I hope to get along well with them again. You know, getting along well with them is a good thing, not a bad thing," Trump added.

He described the nuclear-armed states of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as a modern-day "axis of evil," but said better relations with their leaders were desirable because the biggest threat to the world was not global warming but nuclear war.

Trump claimed U.S. President Joe Biden had brought the world closer to World War III by sending the wrong signal to Putin and again blamed the current administration for issues with immigration, the outbreak of the Ukraine war and the Israel-Palestine situation.

Musk endorsed Trump after an assassination attempt on the former president on July 13. They kicked off their talk on Monday by spending more than 10 minutes reflecting on the incident.

Trump gave credit to an "extraordinary" sniper in his security detail who killed the shooter and to the Secret Service members who jumped onto the stage to protect him.

The Republican candidate said he will return to Butler, Pennsylvania, the town where the shooting took place, in October.

During the conversation with Musk, Trump said Tesla makes great products, but that "doesn't mean everybody should have an electric vehicle."

Trump said he will continue the "drill, baby drill" policy on increasing domestic production of oil and gas if elected.

Musk, CEO of the world's biggest EV maker, said his own views on the green energy transition were "moderate" and that the oil and gas industry should not be vilified.

"The world has a certain demand for oil and gas, it is probably better if the United States provides that than some other countries," Musk said.

Trump also mentioned the energy use of artificial intelligence and said the country needs to increase its energy output if it wants to outcompete China in AI.

"We're going to have to build a lot of energy, if our country will be competitive with China, because that's our primary competitor for AI," Trump said.