Billionaire Elon Musk and Russian leader Vladimir Putin have reportedly had an ongoing relationship since 2022.
Putin and Musk, the latter of whom has been busily supporting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in recent weeks, have discussed topics including global politics, according to the Wall Street Journal, which said its story was corroborated by both U.S. and Russian sources.
The Associated Press also confirmed Putin and Musk were in contact, but didn’t offer further information.
In one of their discussions, Putin reportedly asked Musk to help China by not providing Starlink satellite internet service to Taiwan.
Musk hasn’t addressed the report other than calling pundit Keith Olbermann a “ret–d” for suggesting the relationship would pose a security risk to the U.S.
Musk countered that his Starlink satellite connectivity is making Ukraine’s defense against Russia possible. But he didn’t outright deny having discussions with Moscow.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reportedly denied Putin and Musk are regularly in contact.
Musk’s SpaceX exploration company works closely with NASA and has dozens of contracts with the U.S. that were worth $3 billion last year alone, according to the New York Times.
Musk has reportedly spent tens of millions of dollars to help get Trump elected in recent weeks. Trump has repeatedly called for the U.S. to strengthen its relationship with Putin, whose operatives helped the former president get elected in 2016, according to U.S. intelligence reports.
Trump has indicated Musk will have a role in his administration should the 78-year-old GOP candidate win on Nov. 5.
Celebrated investigative journalist Bob Woodward claims in his new book “War” that Trump and Putin remained in contact after the former president left office in 2021. Both men deny that report.
“I knew Putin very well. I got along with him great,” Trump said in 2020. “He liked me. I liked him.”
U.S. officials have long claimed Russia surreptitiously uses social media platforms like Twitter — which Musk bought in 2022 and renamed X last year — to spread disinformation meant to destabilize rival nations.
