A look at Musk's reported contact with Russia's Putin, why it matters

Elon Musk stands before the image of an American flag.

By David Klepper and Lisa Mascaro

Oct. 26, 2024 10:05 AM PT

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of major government contractor SpaceX and a key ally of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the last two years, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A person familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, confirmed to the Associated Press that Musk and Putin have had contact through calls. The person didn’t provide additional details about the frequency of the calls, when they occurred or their content.

Musk, the world’s richest man who also owns Tesla and the social platform X, has emerged as a leading voice on the American right. He’s poured millions of dollars into Trump’s presidential bid and turned the platform once known as Twitter into a site popular with Trump supporters, as well as conspiracy theorists, extremists and Russian propagandists.

Musk’s contacts with Putin raise national security questions, given his companies’ work for the government, and highlight concerns about Russian influence in American politics.

Here’s what to know:

What they talked about

Musk and Putin have spoken repeatedly about personal matters, business and geopolitics, the Journal has reported, citing multiple current and former officials in the U.S., Europe and Russia.

During one talk, Putin asked Musk not to activate his Starlink satellite system over Taiwan as a favor for Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose ties to Putin have grown closer, the Journal reported. Putin and Xi have met more than 40 times since 2013.

Russia has denied the conversations took place. In 2022, Musk said he’d only spoken to Putin once, in a call 18 months earlier focused on space.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said Friday that it was “not aware of the specifics” of any requests made by Putin on China’s behalf.

There was no immediate response to messages left with X and Tesla seeking Musk’s comment.

What the talks mean for national security

Musk’s relationship with Putin raises national security questions given the billions of dollars in government contracts awarded to SpaceX, a crucial partner to NASA and government satellite programs.

Trump also has vowed to give Musk a role in his administration if he wins next month.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said it’s unusual for business leaders to be in contact with Putin without informing U.S. authorities. While CEOs may often interact with foreign leaders, Putin stands apart, given his invasion of Ukraine, McFaul said.

“He’s a war criminal who is slaughtering civilians. That makes this wrong in my view,” McFaul said of Musk’s talks with Putin. “You have to decide what team you are on. Are you on the American team or are you on the Russian team?”

Putin’s request on Starlink as a favor to China is likely to get attention, given U.S. support for Taiwan and concerns about the growing partnership between the Kremlin and Beijing.

Musk, whose Tesla operates a gigafactory in Shanghai, has developed a close relationship with China’s leaders. His remarks about China have been friendly, and he has suggested Taiwan cede some control to Beijing by becoming a special administrative region.

Moscow has growing ties to other American adversaries. The U.S. has accused Russia of sending ballistic missiles to Iran and said North Korea sent troops to Russia, possibly for combat in Ukraine.

On Ukraine, Musk’s views have shifted since he initially supported Kyiv after Russia’s 2022 invasion and provided it with his Starlink system for communications.

Musk then refused to allow Ukraine in 2023 to use Starlink for a surprise attack on Russian soldiers in Crimea.

He also floated a peace proposal that would have required Ukraine to drop plans for NATO membership and given Russia permanent control of Crimea, which it seized in 2014. The plan infuriated Ukrainian leaders.

“The policy of the U.S. government is to try to isolate Vladimir Putin, and Elon Musk is directly undercutting that,” said Bradley Bowman, a former West Point assistant professor who is now senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank.

“What is Putin doing with Musk? Putin is trying to reduce his international isolation and impact American foreign policy,” Bowman said.

Asked about Musk’s contacts with Putin, White House national security spokesman John F. Kirby told reporters Friday that he had no information to share. The Pentagon and U.S. intelligence officials declined to comment. The State Department didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the Journal’s report and said Putin and Musk held an “introductory” phone conversation before 2022 that focused on “visionary technologies.”

“After that, Musk had no contacts with Putin,” Peskov said.

Musk’s ties with Trump

Musk recently appeared at a Trump rally, sporting a Make America Great Again hat and delivered a ominous warning that if Trump lost the race, “this will be the last election.”

Last year, Musk mocked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for aid and said in February that Ukraine couldn’t win the war.

Trump, who has praised Putin’s leadership and criticized the NATO alliance and U.S. aid for Ukraine, has raised questions about what he would be willing to concede if he’s elected in a negotiation over Ukraine’s future

U.S. intelligence officials and private sector analysts have concluded that Russia is working to covertly support Trump with disinformation and propaganda targeting his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Since Musk took over X, it has become a leading online source of Russian propaganda and disinformation aimed at Americans.

Trump has faced scrutiny over his own recent contacts with Putin, outlined in a new book by Watergate journalist Bob Woodward.

Woodward quoted an unnamed Trump aide who said the former president and Putin may have had as many as seven conversations since Trump lost reelection in 2020. Before one of the calls, the aide said they were asked to leave Trump’s office to give the two privacy. The Trump campaign and the Kremlin have denied those calls occurred.

In response to questions about Musk and Putin, Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Musk “a once-in-a-generation industry leader” whose ideas could benefit “our broken federal bureaucracy.”

Leavitt said in a statement, “President Trump has long said that he will re-establish his peace through strength foreign policy to deter Russia’s aggression and end the war in Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s military intelligence told the AP that they would “refrain from commenting” about communication between Putin and Musk.

Klepper and Mascaro write for the Associated Press. AP writers Didi Tang in Washington, Daria Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, and Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.