Elon Musk denies claims that former President Trump encouraged him to buy Twitter

Elon Musk categorically denied claims this week that former United States president Donald Trump suggested to the billionaire businessman that he should purchase Twitter before Musk made his offer.

Not mincing his words, Musk responded to a New York Times article that quoted Trump Media & Technology Group CEO Devin Nunes as saying Trump had encouraged Musk’s takeover bid for Twitter. “This is false,” Musk tweeted. “I’ve had no communication, directly or indirectly, with Trump, who has publicly stated that he will be exclusively on Truth Social.”

Devin Nunes appeared on Fox Business on Wednesday, saying, “President Trump, basically before Elon Musk bought it, actually said to go and buy it because you know the goal of our company is really to build a community where people are in a family friendly, safe environment.” 

Nunes also said during the appearance that Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, is “all for” Musk’s Twitter takeover. “That’s why we encouraged Elon Musk to buy it,” Nunes said. “Because someone has to continue to take on these tech tyrants. Donald Trump wanted to make sure that the American people got their voice back and that the internet was open and that’s what we are doing.”

“And so people like Elon Musk doing what he’s doing, you know we’re definitely in favor of it,” Nunes added.

Musk’s bid to buy Twitter is proving a slightly uphill battle, as the Tesla and SpaceX CEO did not actually have the $44 billion in funding secured when he made the offer to buy Twitter, and has spent the weeks since the takeover working to garner the investors needed to complete the buyout.

To date, Musk has secured funding for the buyout from Morgan Stanley, Binance, and others, and is rumored to be near completing the deal with Twitter.