Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been one of the fiercest supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump throughout his re-election campaign and the former United States president made sure the tech billionaire received a shoutout for it.
Trump, 78, addressed his supporters in Florida on Wednesday as he declared victory in the US presidential election over Fox News‘ projection.
During his speech, Trump thanked his family and his supporters, including Musk, the world’s richest man, India Today reported.
“A star is born,” Trump said of Musk, sparking a roar from the crowd.
“He is an amazing guy… We spent two weeks in Philadelphia and different parts of Pennsylvania campaigning,” he said.
Musk, 53, was intimately involved with Trump’s re-election as he turned his social media platform X into a campaign platform and pumped some $120 million into backing the electoral campaign.
Today, owner of the US-based space agency SpaceX took to the site to boast about Trump’s “victory”.
Musk has been acknowledged by Trump on several occasions.
Trump also talked about SpaceX’s recent feat where the company triumphed in catching its Super Heavy booster rocket mid-air following the fifth test flight of its Starship spacecraft.
Referring to the rocket, he said: “It came down and down, and you saw that fire burning and I thought only Elon could do it. I thought it was a space age movie or something.”
He said that it looked like the rocket was going to “smash”, but it came down “so gently” and “wrapped its arms around it and held it, just like a beautiful baby”, referring to the feat.
Trump said that he then called Musk and asked him if it was him. “He told me who else can do that,” he added.
“That’s why I love you Elon,” Trump said.
He added that the US needs “to protect our geniuses, we don’t have many of them”.
During his election campaign, Trump gave conflicting accounts about how Musk might fit into his administration, saying that he would like him to be Trump’s “secretary of cost-cutting”.
A combination of images showing Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump (left) and Tesla CEO and SpaceX owner Elon Musk. — Reuters/Files
Tesla CEO pumped some $120 million into backing Republican presidential candidate’s electoral campaign and Pennsylvania.
