President Biden says Elon Musk's relationships with other countries are worth looking into

Asked connected Wednesday whether Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter CEO Elon Musk posed a menace to nationalist security, President Joe Biden said that the centi-billionaire's "relationships with different countries is worthy of being looked at."

At a White House property league connected Wednesday, the President was specifically asked: "Do you think Elon Musk is a menace to U.S. nationalist information and should the U.S., with the tools you have, analyse his associated acquisition of twitter with overseas governments, which see the Saudis?"

Biden said, "Elon Musk's practice and/or method relationships with different countries is worthy of being looked at. Whether oregon not helium is doing thing inappropriate -- I'm not suggesting that. I'm suggesting it's worthy being looked astatine and that's each I'll say."

Musk is not a instrumentality of Biden and actively bashes Democrats.

Throughout 2022, Musk has accused the President of ignoring his electrical conveyance venture, Tesla, contempt its success, and favoring bequest automakers and their unions. He has sworn to ballot Republican.

On November 7th, arsenic voters were poised to marque ballot decisions, Musk wrote connected Twitter: "Shared powerfulness curbs the worst excesses of some parties, truthful I urge voting for a Republican Congress, fixed that the Presidency is Democratic."

Musk acquired and became CEO of the societal web Twitter successful a $44 cardinal woody that closed connected Oct. 28. While Musk has invested billions of his important idiosyncratic wealthiness into the acquisition, helium besides raised backing from extracurricular equity and indebtedness financing partners, and asked immoderate large existing shareholders to rotation their stakes into his holding company.

Longtime shareholder Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal owns tens of millions of shares of Twitter, and alternatively than selling them, helium held onto these making the Saudi royal household the 2nd largest shareholder successful the societal network, present privately held. The kingdom of Qatar besides participated successful Musk's Twitter deal.

Twitter has go a go-to level for politicians to contiguous their views to the nationalist online and to combat with 1 different and reply immoderate property questions. It is besides utilized by a scope of federal, authorities and section authorities offices to convey accusation astir everything from clime disasters to missing persons, and by journalists and activists the satellite implicit to stock their stories.

Recently, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) who leads a Foreign Relations subcommittee, sent a letter to the Committee connected Foreign Investment successful the United States seeking a reappraisal of the financing down Musk's Twitter deal.

Murphy said successful his missive to CFIUS: "Setting speech the immense stores of information that Twitter has collected connected American citizens, immoderate imaginable that Twitter's overseas ownership volition effect successful accrued censorship, misinformation, oregon governmental unit is simply a sedate nationalist information concern. Saudi Arabia is 1 of the astir repressive countries successful the world, with small to nary tolerance for escaped expression."

Elon Musk's aerospace company, SpaceX, antecedently donated a information of Starlink net terminals to Ukraine, which person proven important to keeping the country's subject online during Russia's invasion.

Musk was seen arsenic a leader erstwhile Starlink work successful Ukraine was archetypal made available. But aft the SpaceX laminitis posted a bid of tweets Oct. 3, seeking enactment for his sentiment connected the champion solution to Russia's warfare connected Ukraine, helium faced a large backlash.

Musk projected UN-supervised votes successful Ukraine to find whether definite regions of the federation should articulation Russia. He besides said Ukraine should manus Crimea implicit to Russia and that the federation should past stay "neutral" alternatively than aligning with either NATO oregon Russia.

Kremlin officials praised Musk for his opinion, but the entrepreneur drew crisp disapproval from galore others, including Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Russia-born quality rights activistic and erstwhile chess champion Garry Kasparov.

By mid-October, Musk tweeted that Starlink successful Ukraine has outgo SpaceX $80 cardinal truthful far, and volition transcend $100 cardinal by the extremity of this year. He did not notation that SpaceX has besides been paid by U.S. Aid, and planetary governments successful Poland and France, among different sources, for this operation. It is not shouldering the outgo alone.

The Ukrainian government, which mostly praises SpaceX and Musk, is present looking for alternatives to Starlink, Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said past Thursday.

In summation to his ideas connected Russia, Elon Musk has sounded disconnected astir China and Taiwan and suggested that Taiwan go "a peculiar administrative zone" of China with an statement that could perchance beryllium much "lenient" than Hong Kong.

Taiwanese politicians person antecedently rejected the thought of "one country, 2 systems" similar Hong Kong, and instantly deed backmost astatine Musk. But his comments were praised by China's ambassador to the U.S.

The occurrence of Musk's electrical conveyance company, Tesla, hinges connected its entree to a scope of suppliers and to the broader marketplace successful mainland China.

Tesla operates its astir efficient, and largest conveyance assembly works successful Shanghai today, though it is gathering retired and ramping up accumulation astatine 2 different caller factories now, successful Austin, Texas and extracurricular of Berlin, Germany.

The Chinese authorities gave Tesla a indebtedness to assistance it physique that Shanghai plant. And China has allowed Tesla, but nary different U.S. automaker, the close to run its mill independently successful the state without forming a associated task with immoderate different section automaker oregon manufacturer.