The Democratic leader was responding to a question about the involvement of Saudi Prince Al-Walid bin Talal in the takeover of Twitter by the boss of the car manufacturer Tesla.
Elon Musk’s ties to foreign countries “worth looking into”US President Joe Biden ruled on Wednesday, November 9, in response to a question about the possibility that the billionaire’s takeover of Twitter poses a threat to US national security.
“I think Elon Musk’s cooperation, and/or technical relationships with other countries, are worth considering”, said the American president during a press conference, obviously thinking carefully about the words used for his response. The Democratic leader was responding to a question about the involvement of Saudi Prince Al-Walid bin Talal in the takeover of Twitter by the boss of the car manufacturer Tesla. Prince al-Walid has indeed brought to Elon Musk the almost 35 million shares he already held in the social network, directly and via his KHC holding company, which makes him the group’s second largest shareholder.
Shortly after the takeover of Twitter, at the end of October, the democratic senator Chris Murphy had estimated, in a tweet that “We should be concerned that the Saudis, who have a clear interest in suppressing political expression and influencing American politics, are now the second largest owner of a major social media platform”. The senator also announced that he would ask the Senate foreign investment committee to open an investigation into “The National Security Implications of Saudi Arabia’s Takeover of Twitter”.
China is Tesla’s biggest market
For Joe Biden, that Elon Musk “whether or not you do something inappropriate, and I’m not implying you do, it’s worth looking into, that’s the only thing I can say about it”.
Until now little concerned with political and geopolitical questions, Elon Musk gave his opinion on several important subjects, in particular the war in Ukraine and the tensions between China and Taiwan. In a first case, the billionaire proposed a solution involving the definitive cession of Crimea to Russia, “in order to repair the historic error of (Nikita) Khrouchtchev» as well as a real referendum in the majority Russian-speaking regions of the country to decide the future of these parts of Ukrainian territory.
Regarding Taiwan, Elon Musk spoke out in favor of a reunification of the two Chinas following negotiations between the two sides of the strait. China is Tesla’s first market where the group has a factory in Shanghai. In both cases, the businessman’s comments elicited positive reactions from both Moscow and Beijing.