Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's interview with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk finally got underway on Musk's social media platform X on Monday evening, Trump Media stock drops 5% after Trump's return to X.
 

Elon Musk interview of Trump

Musk kicked off the event at 8:42 p.m. (0042 GMT Tuesday), over 40 minutes later than planned. He attributed the delay to a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, a type of cyber assault that overwhelms servers or networks with excessive traffic to disrupt their operation, though this explanation remained unverified.

According to a counter on X, over 1 million people tuned in as the discussion began.
"Congratulations on breaking every record in the book," Trump remarked, seemingly referring to the high number of viewers.

Some listeners on X noted that Trump appeared to have a lisp at times, with opinions divided—some likened his speech to a cartoon character, while others speculated it might be due to audio compression issues.

The technical hiccups echoed a similar incident in May 2023 on X, when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis experienced a turbulent start to his Republican presidential campaign because of platform glitches.
 

TRUMP BACK ON X

On Monday morning, Trump made his return to X, previously known as Twitter, for the first time in a year. He posted a video asserting—without providing evidence—that the four criminal cases against him are driven by political motivations.

He quickly followed up with half a dozen additional posts, reactivating an account that had been a key communication tool during his previous campaigns and his four-year presidency, including his followers' attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Trump stayed off X until August 2024, with just three months remaining until the presidential election. Trump has said he would like to debate Harris three times in September, but only one has been confirmed, which will take place on ABC on Sept. 10.

Following the Jan. 6 attack, Trump was permanently suspended by Twitter, as the company cited a “risk of further incitement of violence.” About a year later, Trump started his own social media site, Truth Social, where he had been posting before his return to X.
 

Trump Media stock drops 5%

On Monday, shares of Trump Media and Technology Group dropped just over 5% following the company's report of minimal revenues and a net loss for its first full quarter as a public entity.
Earlier that day, Donald Trump returned to X in advance of his scheduled interview with X owner Elon Musk. This move cast some uncertainty over Trump's continued preference for Truth Social, the social media platform owned by Trump Media. However, in a fundraising email sent out late Monday, the Trump campaign indicated that Trump's return to X would be temporary.

Since its public debut in late March, Trump Media's stock has experienced notable volatility, partly due to differing predictions from Wall Street traders regarding its price trajectory.
But the stock has lost half its value since mid-May, and it has fallen more than 40% after a brief surge in the wake of the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump, the Republican nominee for president.