Over a million people tuned into the Twitter Spaces interview on Tuesday morning (Vietnam time) where former President Donald Trump conversed with billionaire Elon Musk. Many in the crypto community were hoping for new remarks related to the industry.
Although the two discussed familiar issues such as protecting the U.S. southern border, Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, immigration issues, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the former President did not mention crypto at all.
In fact, over $4.8 million was wagered on Polymarket that Trump would mention various words, including “crypto,” with over $800,000 waiting for just one mention. However, crypto fans were left disappointed – though other keywords did appear in the conversation: “MAGA,” “illegal immigrants,” and “tampon,” the latter mentioned when Trump referred to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s running mate, and a law related to women’s hygiene products that he signed into law last year.
Listeners also did not hear the words “Tesla” or “Bitcoin” from Trump.
This comes despite some in the industry calling for crypto to be recognized as a major political issue this year after Trump showed support three months ago. Trump is hoping for another shot at the White House in November.
The former president has attracted crypto holders on the campaign trail, accepting crypto donations in May after hinting that he “agreed” with crypto at a Mar-a-Lago event for holders of his Polygon-based NFT collection. In June, Trump notably expressed support for Bitcoin miners.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk
While crypto listeners were left disappointed, many others complained, ironically, about technical issues preventing them from accessing the recorded interview on Spaces – the platform’s live recording feature.
The much-anticipated conversation between X owner Musk and Trump began with Spaces being interrupted by a DDoS attack, according to Musk.
Musk reported the disruption to Twitter at 7:18 AM Vietnam time, stating that the system had been tested with eight million concurrent listeners earlier in the day.
Musk suggested that the interview would proceed with fewer listeners, but after Spaces was back online, the number of listeners surpassed one million accounts.
Musk Wants to Join Trump’s Administration
Elon Musk expressed a desire to take on a role in Trump’s administration to help control spending if the Republican presidential candidate wins.
“I think it would make a lot of sense to have a committee in government to review spending issues and ensure that people’s hard-earned tax money is being used wisely. I would be happy to be part of such a committee,” billionaire Elon Musk shared during the conversation.
In response, Trump said he “would love” for Musk to join his administration, emphasizing that the billionaire is a “master of cutting costs,” referring to the cost-cutting measures Musk has implemented at his companies.
In May, there were reports that Trump and Elon Musk had discussed the role the billionaire might take in the administration if the former president is re-elected. However, Musk later denied this.”
