Elon Musk Will Interview Donald Trump Through Platform X

Donald Trump/PHOTO via Instagram @realdonaldtrump

JAKARTA - Billionaire Elon Musk will interview Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on social media network X.

The interview, which will be held at 8 p.m., Monday, August 12 local time, can give the former president the opportunity to become the center of attention when his campaign looks weakened.

His rival from the Democratic Party, Kamala Harris, has surpassed Trump's lead in the poll.

Interviews on Elon Musk's platform allowed Trump to reach different audiences from conservative groups attending rallies and watching his interview on Fox News.

"I will do some system scaling tests tonight & tomorrow before the talks," Elon Musk wrote on a platform formerly called Twitter.

The interview will be broadcast live using Trump's official X account, his campaign team said on Sunday.

Trump's access to his @realDonaldTrump account was restored a month ago after being suspended by the previous platform owner after January 6, 2021.

Meanwhile, Trump has frequently posted on his Truth Social social media platform, which was launched in February 2022. He has only returned to X once since his access was restored with posts.

Elon Musk could be an unusual interviewer. The world's richest person from the Democratic Party supported President Joe Biden in 2020, but since then he has moved to the right and supported the Republican Party after Trump's attempted murder in July.

Elon Musk, who leads electric car company Tesla Inc, is also starting a fundraising movement to support Trump's campaign.

Trump, who has long criticized electric vehicles, changed his attitude after Musk's support.

"I support electric cars. I have to support them, because Elon is very supportive of me. So I have no choice," Trump said at a rally in early August.