Ryan asked Trump if keeping Musk in the cabinet would require him to do something with artificial intelligence….reports Asian Lite News
Former President Donald Trump said that he would like to keep Tesla CEO Elon Musk in his cabinet if he’s elected as President.
In an interview with Shawn Ryan, which is yet to be broadcasted, the host of US-based ‘The Shawn Ryan Show’, Trump said that he would keep Musk in his cabinet but doubted if Musk could do it with so many things already on his plate.
Ryan asked Trump if keeping Musk in the cabinet would require him to do something with artificial intelligence.
“He wants to be involved now. Look, he’s running big businesses and all that, so he can’t really. I don’t think he’d be [able to handle the work of cabinet]. I’d put him in the cabinet, absolutely. But I don’t know how he could do that with all the things he’s got going,” Trump said.
Trump said that Musk can consult with the country and produce ideas, especially on AI. “But he can sort of, as the expression goes, consult with the country and give you some very good ideas, like on AI. There’s nobody knows more about it than Elon. It’s a big thing,” he said.
Trump said that if the US doesn’t focus on building AI, somebody else–most likely China–will do it. “It’s very important for the country. If we don’t do it, China is going to do it or somebody else. But most likely China. And China is working right now to develop a massive flood of electricity. And we don’t, because we have people that are not even thinking about that,” he said. Trump said that Musk is an ‘unusual character’. He said that Musk was a genius and we must cherish him.
“We have a great relationship. He’s [Musk is] great. He is a totally unusual character. He’s great, and he’s smart, and we have to cherish our geniuses. You know, we don’t have too many of them. He is a brilliant guy, and what he really would like to do is get involved in cutting some of the fat. And he does know how to do it, and he loves the country. You know, it’s just an amazing thing.” Trump said that if this election doesn’t go the right way, the country will be doomed.
“We have to win this election. This election is going. November 5 will be the most important day, in my opinion, in the history of our country, because if our country goes the wrong way with this election, I think this country is doomed,” he said. Trump said that the fact that his podcast with Musk on August 13 was viewed by millions was ‘crazy’.
“We had a conversation the other day… I hear it had hundreds of millions of people. I heard it had the biggest audience that there’s ever been. I mean, would you say that’s a correct statement? There’s never been anything even close. I heard 750 million people. I mean, numbers that are crazy,” he said. (ANI)
Putin played on Trump’s ego, says top adviser
Donald Trump was determined during his presidency to cozy up to Vladimir Putin despite Russia’s interference in US democracy and objections by advisers, a former top aide claims in a new book, according to an excerpt published Saturday.
The new behind-the-scenes details from H.R. McMaster, Trump’s second national security adviser, come as Americans are set to decide whether the former president should return to the White House and as US officials warn of fresh foreign election meddling.
“After over a year in this job, I cannot understand Putin’s hold on Trump,” McMaster, in an excerpt from his memoir published in the Wall Street Journal, says he told his wife in March 2018. A former lieutenant-general, McMaster became Trump’s national security adviser in February 2017, and says that from the beginning, discussions of Vladimir Putin and Russia “were difficult to have with the president.”
He says Trump connected “all topics involving Russia” to the federal investigation into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election and possible ties with Trump’s campaign, a probe which would dog his entire presidency.
US officials have warned this year of new efforts by foreign powers, including Russia and Iran, to meddle in the November election, in which Trump is facing Vice President Kamala Harris. McMaster says an “overconfident” president Trump sought early in his administration to improve relations with Russia by building a personal rapport with Putin.
But the Russian president, “a ruthless former KGB operator, played to Trump’s ego and insecurities with flattery,” McMaster says. “Trump had revealed his vulnerability to this approach, his affinity for strongmen and his belief that he alone could forge a good relationship with Putin,” he added.
McMaster detailed several instances of friction with Trump over his approach toward Putin, with the disagreements ultimately leading to his dismissal.
Following Putin’s election to a fourth term in March 2018, McMaster says Trump wanted to congratulate him by phone, but that he explained to the president that the vote had been rigged. A call was scheduled nonetheless.
Before Trump called Putin, McMaster says he warned him about the conversation potentially being spun by the Kremlin as tacit support of the election process and to boost Russia’s image, in tatters at the time over an assassination attempt on UK soil. He said he asked Trump: “As Russia tries to delegitimize our legitimate elections, why would you help him legitimize his illegitimate election?“
Trump nonetheless called Putin and congratulated him, and then requested the Russian president be invited to the White House.
Trump’s aversion to McMaster, he said, “was because I was the principal voice telling him that Putin was using him and other politicians in both parties in an effort to shake Americans’ confidence in our democratic principles, institutions and processes.” McMaster was replaced just days later by John Bolton, who was also fired about a year-and-a-half later.
While Trump had four national security advisers during his term, President Joe Biden has had one since taking office in 2021. “With Donald Trump, most everybody gets used up, and my time had come,” McMaster wrote.
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