The former President Trump’s widely anticipated conversation Monday night with 𝕏 CEO Elon Musk got off to rocky start as technical difficulties plagued the event. 

In an echo of the issues that botched the announcement of Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis’s presidential bid on the platform in May 2023, those who tuned in at 8 pm ET on Monday were greeted with a broken link to the discussion.

Musk blamed the delay on a direct denial of service (DDOS) attack. He said the discussion would go on with a smaller group of listeners. Democrats seized the moment. The conversation did not begin until nearly an hour after the intended start time. 

When it did, the two spoke at length about Trump surviving an assassination attempt during a July campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump said the incident brought him closer to God. 

“I’m a believer now. I’m more of a believer in God, I think,” Trump said. 

“I think a lot of people admire your courage under fire,” Musk responded. 

Trump touted his singular ability to end the war in Ukraine, bemoaned that American families are too broke to buy groceries, and promised to dismantle the Department of Education.

"Move education back to the states where—states like Iowa, like Idaho,” Trump said. “Not every state will do great." 

Trump’s speech sounded slurred throughout, leading to rampant speculation about the source of what commentator Michael Tracey described as a “comically outrageous lisp.” Though prominent left-wing accounts noted that Musk’s in-app audio platform regularly gives its speakers a lisp, Trump slur sounded evident in a live video released by the campaign’s deputy director of communications.

The discussion with Musk came after a barrage of midday posts on the platform, the first for Trump since August 2023 when he shared a picture of his mugshot with text that read: “Never Surrender.” Trump has stayed off 𝕏 in recent years as he attempts to position the fledgling Truth Social among the world’s top social media applications.

Trump’s return to the platform comes on the heels of a soft earnings report for Truth Social. The company reported losses totaling more than $16 million in the quarter and a year-to-year drop in revenue from $1.2 million to $836,900.

Musk successfully luring Trump away from his own social media site amid sluggish performance and a traffic war is evidence of the power wielded by the billionaire tech magnate and 𝕏. It also speaks to Musk’s deep pockets which are much desired by the Trump campaign as it attempts to match a massive influx of cash into the Harris campaign.

Musk, who voted for President Biden in 2020, endorsed Trump following the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania and has given to a pro-Trump Super PAC, although the donation was characterized as “low-level.”

“Are you better off now than you were when I was president?” queried Trump in one of several tweets that included campaign ads and a promotion of his sitdown with Musk. 
In another ad, Trump boomed, “This is the final battle.”