News
Here’s exactly what Elon Musk said about letting Trump back on Twitter
During his interview with Financial Times, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that he would allow former U.S. President Donald Trump to return to Twitter if his pending $44 billion deal for the social media platform goes through. Some of Musk’s comments are being construed as he would allow Trump, who was banned from Twitter on January 8, 2021, to return to the platform with no limits. Instead, Musk’s statements regarding the reversal of Trump’s Twitter ban were more general.
Musk said permanent bans should be extremely rare and reserved for accounts that are not human, meaning they are either spam or bots. If “there is no legitimacy to the account at all,” as Musk put it, the account should not be allowed to appear on Twitter. Musk stated on several occasions that Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey agrees with him on this point.
Here is what Musk said, word for word, to the question “Are you planning to let Donald Trump back on?”:
Musk: “Well, uh, I think the general question of ‘Should Twitter have permanent bans,’ um, and, I’ve talked with Jack Dorsey about this, and, he and I are of the same mind, which is that permanent bans should be extremely rare, and really reserved for people who are trying to — for accounts that are bots or spam/scam accounts, where there’s just no legitimacy to the account at all. Um, I do think that it was not correct to ban Donald Trump; I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country, and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice. He is now going to be on Truth Social, as will a large part of the, sort of, the Right in the United States. And, so, I think this could end up being frankly worse than having a single forum where everyone can debate. Um, so, I guess the answer is that I would reverse the permanent ban. I don’t own Twitter, yet, so this is not like a thing that will definitely happen, because, what if I don’t own Twitter? But, my opinion, and Jack Dorsey, I want to be clear, shares this opinion, is that we should not have permanent bans. Now, that doesn’t mean that somebody gets to say whatever they want to say. If they say something that is illegal, or, otherwise, you know, destructive to the world, then there should perhaps be a “time out,” a temporary suspension, or that particular Tweet should be made invisible or have very limited traction. But, I think perma-bans just fundamentally undermine trust in Twitter as a “town square,” where everyone can voice their opinion. I think it was a morally bad decision, to be clear, and foolish in the extreme.”
Interviewer: “Even after he egged on the crowd who went to the U.S. Capitol, some of them carrying nooses. You still think it was a mistake to remove him?”
Musk: “I think if there are Tweets that are wrong and bad, they should be either deleted or made invisible and a suspension, a temporary suspension is appropriate. But not a permanent ban.”
Interviewer: “So if the deal completes, he might potentially come back on but with the understanding that if he does something similar again, he’ll be back in the Sin Bin?”
Musk: “He has publicly stated that he will not be coming back to Twitter, um and that he will only be on Truth Social. And this is the point I am trying to make, which is perhaps not getting across, is that banning Trump from Twitter didn’t end Trump’s voice. It will amplify it among the Right, and this is why it is morally wrong and flat-out stupid.”
Musk, whose $44 billion offer for Twitter was officially accepted on April 25, still has to wait for shareholders to vote to confirm the sale of the platform. The deal should be completed by October 24, 2022, according to SEC documents.
Musk’s remarks regarding the Trump Twitter ban can also be heard below.
Tesla and SpaceX shares fell on Wednesday after Democrats swept both chambers of Congress. The decline stood out as broader market securities recovered and turned positive, while both of Musk’s publicly traded companies lagged.
CEO Elon Musk already joked about the unsuccessful campaigning for the Republicans, but now the new party will make pretty drastic changes to how it handles Tesla and SpaceX, and those companies will adjust their outlook.
Let’s take a deeper look.
Tesla ($TSLA)
Tesla shares traded lower during the regular session after Democrats secured both the House and Senate. The stock was down 2.32 percent at around 1:45 p.m. on the East Coast, trading at around $389.30.
The pressure is tied to more than the raw scale of Musk’s political spending, estimated at $450–474 million this cycle with roughly $224 million directed at Texas. In that state, Tesla now faces a Democratic governor and a Democratic senator after Gina Hinojosa unseated Greg Abbott and James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton.
The Austin Gigafactory, Robotaxi pilot programs in multiple Texas cities, and any related AI compute expansion sit under a new state executive who campaigned against certain corporate subsidies and floated a moratorium on new data-center construction.
Federally, Democratic control of key committees opens the door to deeper examination of Tesla’s autonomous-driving safety record, federal energy-storage and manufacturing incentives, and the national-security implications of any combination with SpaceX.
Investors are also weighing whether the company’s historically close alignment with the prior Republican leadership will invite slower permitting, additional hearings, or tighter rules on Full Self-Driving deployment.
For Tesla, the political shift adds near-term friction around state permitting and federal regulatory approvals for autonomy and energy storage. A potential merger with SpaceX may face slower review even if it proceeds.
Core growth drivers such as vehicle deliveries, energy deployments, and robotaxi rollout remain intact, yet the stock now carries a higher political-risk premium that could weigh on valuation until the company demonstrates workable relationships with the new Texas leadership and congressional majorities.
SpaceX ($SPCX)
SpaceX shares also declined in live trading on November 4 following the Democratic midterm sweep. The stock traded at $134.97, down 4.49 percent. The drop occurred even as broader indexes stabilized, highlighting a company-specific reaction to the election outcome.
Musk’s large contributions, concentrated in Texas races that both companies lost, place SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility and headquarters under a new Democratic governor.
At the federal level, Democratic control of Congress enables greater scrutiny of NASA, the Department of Defense, and other contracts that support a meaningful share of revenue, along with reviews of Starlink national-security uses and any Tesla merger. Analysts have noted that empowered committees can hold hearings and request documents on these relationships.
For SpaceX, the results raise the risk of delayed contract awards, higher compliance costs, and tighter constraints on AI and satellite infrastructure expansion, particularly in Texas where a data-center moratorium has been discussed.
A merger with Tesla could encounter political friction that slows integration of launch, connectivity, and autonomy capabilities.
While Starlink growth and launch cadence continue as primary drivers, the company faces a more contested path for federal funding and state-level operations, requiring management to rebuild ties with the new congressional majorities and Texas leadership to limit the overhang.
Tesla’s new vehicle registrations in Germany rose sharply in October, nearly quadrupling from the same month a year earlier. That’s according to data from the KBA, Germany’s federal motor transport authority.
The KBA reported 2,932 Tesla vehicles registered in October, a 290.9 percent year-over-year- increase. For the first ten months of the year, Tesla’s cumulative registrations reached 47,742 units. This number is up 206.1 percent compared with the January-October period of 2025. These gains occurred against a backdrop of strong overall growth in the BEV sector as a whole.
Germany registered 94,086 new BEVs in October, a 79.5 percent rise that brought the BEV share of the passenger car market to 37 percent of the 254,492 total cars registered that month.
🇩🇪 Tesla’s new registrations in Germany nearly quadrupled in October, according to KBA data.
October: 2,932 units, +290.9% YoY Jan–Oct: 47,742 units, +206.1%
Germany’s overall BEV market grew 79.5% to 94,086 units last month. https://t.co/GMwNqsFAOC
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 4, 2026
Despite the percentage surge, Tesla’s absolute numbers left it with a 1.2 percent share of all new car registrations for October. Chinese competitors did record higher volumes, as BYD registered 5,173 vehicles, a 2 percent share, Leapmotor with 3,661 cars, which equates to 1.4 percent, and Xpeng had a 0.5 percent share.
Year-to-date through October, BYD edged ahead of Tesla with 47,961 registrations versus Tesla’s 47,742.
The October results follow a notably strong September for Tesla in Germany, when it registered 12,552 vehicles, an increase of roughly 269 percent year-over-year and one of its strongest monthly totals on record in the country. That month, the Model Y led all EVs and ranked among the top-selling vehicles of any powertrain.
The figures form part of a broader recovery in Tesla’s European registrations after an extended period of softer demand. While monthly volumes remain subject to typical quarter-end patterns and competitive pressure from both established European brands and rapidly expanding Chinese manufacturers, the year-to-date growth indicates improved traction in Europe’s largest car market.
Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg continues to supply the region, positioning the company to capture a share of the expanding German BEV market as overall EV adoptions looks to be accelerating.
In the early hours of Wednesday following the 2026 midterm elections, Elon Musk took to X with a characteristically irreverent reaction to the results.
“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO posted, generating hundreds of thousands of likes and widespread attention.
The quip landed after Democrats secured control of both the House and Senate in a sweeping victory. Musk, the largest individual donor of the cycle, had directed an estimated $440–474 million toward Republican candidates and aligned groups—more than any non-candidate in modern history.
Much of the spending targeted Texas, where Musk’s companies have significant operations. There, Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, and James Talarico ousted Ken Paxton in the Senate race.
Musk’s “space lasers” joke playfully referenced conspiracy theories that have circulated since the 2024 election, falsely claiming he used Starlink satellites or other technology to influence vote totals. By leaning into the accusation with a shrug emoji, he turned potential criticism into self-deprecating humor:
St. Clair says Musk told her he knew the 2024 election’s outcome erlier in the day — claiming he had “lasers in space” and had unleashed an “anomaly in the matrix.”
(She says she didn’t press for details, worried she’d later be deposed about it.)
(2/7)
— Matt Rivera (@rivera) September 16, 2026
According to .@nytimes reporting by .@KirstenGrind and .@mega2e, after appearing on stage with Trump on Oct 5, Musk texted someone close to him:
“I’m feeling more optimistic after tonight. Tomorrow we unleash the anomaly in the matrix.”
Then, an hour later:
“This isn’t something on the chessboard, so they’ll be quite surprised. ‘Lasers’ from space.”Important to remember that Musk just admitted to winning the election for Trump, that the House would be blue, and the Senate would be 51–49 for the Democrats.
It’s also important to remember that just days before the election Musk activated 265 low Earth orbit (LEO) V2 Mini satellites, each equipped with Direct-to-Cell (DTC) technology capable of processing, routing, and manipulating real-time data, including voting data, through his satellite network.
Now Trump is forcing countries to sign Starlink contracts in exchange for tariff relief. Do Democrats understand where this is heading? Does anyone in Congress tune in to .@jimstewartson? This isn’t just policy—it’s Musk and Thiel’s global heist of democracy. And Dems are out here sending texts asking people to chip in for midterms?
What midterms? A vote-flipping algorithm just WON the 2024 election. We have the data.
We have constitutional avenues to remove this entire illegitimate administration. Stealing an election is an act of rebellion against the Constitution—and nearly every individual currently serving has previously sworn an oath to uphold and defend it. Do you see where I’m going here?
See Starlink op-ed, attached.
This is not HUMAN generated data..@AmyMcGrathKY .@YourAnonCentral .@ellenbarkin .@JasonBassler1 .@SenDuckworth
— This Will Hold (@This_Will_Hold) June 8, 2025
He followed up with another post observing that “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now,” a pointed nod to possible regulatory and infrastructure challenges for data-center projects in Texas under the new Democratic leadership.
Critics quickly highlighted the scale of the spending relative to the outcome. One reply noted that Musk had “dropped half a fucking BILLION on this shit and got dog walked,” underscoring the disconnect between financial outlay and electoral returns. Musk later shared a vintage-style “technical difficulties” image, extending the humorous tone.
The posts arrived as markets reacted: shares of Tesla and SpaceX-related entities dipped in premarket trading amid concerns over heightened scrutiny and shifting state-level politics. Democrats had previously signaled plans to examine Musk’s government ties, DOGE involvement, and business conflicts if they regained congressional majorities.
Musk’s response stands out for its light touch amid high-stakes political setbacks. Rather than offering a detailed defense of his spending or a sober analysis of voter sentiment, he chose sarcasm—consistent with his long-standing style of public communication.
Whether the comments signal a retreat from large-scale political donations ahead of 2028 or simply a momentary shrug remains unclear, but they captured the attention of millions in the immediate aftermath of election night.
Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX decline after Democratic Midterm sweep
Tesla registrations in Germany nearly quadruple in October
