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Russia Today
09-06-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
Musk's father praises Putin as ‘impressive and resilient man'
Errol Musk, a South African businessman and the father of tech billionaire Elon Musk, has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as 'a very impressive and resilient man' and said he would like to learn from his leadership. The 79-year-old made the remarks on Monday in Moscow, on the sidelines of the Forum of the Future 2050, a two-day event that brought together international participants to discuss high technology, science, space, development, and education. 'I think he [Putin] is a very impressive and resilient man. He has proven that,' Musk told journalists. He did not respond to a question about whether he planned to meet with the Russian president. The remark echoed comments Musk made in April during an interview with the BBC, when he said he believed his family was 'impressed' with the Russian leader. He added that he had listened to Putin's speeches and found that the Russian president said 'logical things.' Addressing the forum, Musk said it was his first visit to Russia and that he accepted the invitation to attend without hesitation, despite being advised not to travel to the country. 'The first thing I saw was an absolutely beautiful civilization in every sense,' he said, noting that he generally takes a critical view of most things. 'I saw a city that could truly rival Ancient Rome... In many ways, this city is the best capital in the world,' he added, drawing applause from the audience. The businessman also criticized the Western media's portrayal of Russia, which he described as 'complete nonsense.' He said the country is often depicted as 'a terrible place full of awful people who will kill you if you visit.' 'It's absurd,' he said, urging an end to the negative stereotypes being spread in the West about Russia and its people. 'I think this may be one of the best countries I've ever seen,' Musk said.
News.com.au
09-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Errol Musk says son Elon has ‘PTSD' as he lands in Moscow for meeting with far-right figures
While his son battles with the President of the United States, Errol Musk has landed in Moscow to mingle with the Kremlin's ideological vanguard. The 78-year-old father of Elon Musk is attending the Forum of the Future 2050, a far-right Russian conference hosted by the Tsargrad Institute and led by ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, according to local newspaper Kommersant. 'I am eager to meet everyone. As far as I know, Russians are among the most intelligent people on the planet. It would be foolish not to ask their opinion on all sorts of issues,' Musk Snr told Russian state media outlet TASS. The event includes panel sessions with titles like 'The Race for Mars' and 'The Battle for Hearts and Minds: The Ideology of Sovereign Russia.' Speakers include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, and state TV anchor Ekaterina Andreeva. Errol is a former South African engineer and politician who has previously expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, igniting theories about his son's alleged links to the superpower. But Errol has distanced himself from his son in recent years and told the public to ignore Elon's often erratic comments on world politics. Meanwhile Elon has called his father a 'terrible human being' and described him as being critical and verbally abusive during his childhood. Dad weighs in on Elon's meltdown Errol Musk claimed that his son lashed out at Donald Trump because he had developed 'PTSD' from several months in the spotlight. On top of being the figurehead for several major companies, Musk Jnr took it upon himself to 'rehabilitate' the US government from decades of bloat. But his father says he's made a massive mistake going against the US president, who was the most likely to come out on top once the dust settles. 'So at the moment, Elon is inclined to say that he's made a mistake,' he told Russian press after landing. 'Elon made a mistake, I think, but he's tired, he's stressed. 'Five months of continuous stress, continuous, continuous stress, stress, stress. 'And then in the end, it's just him and Trump left … They still don't know what to do, so they fight with each other until they can come to normal conditions. 'They've had five months at least of intense repair work, removing all the spurious opposition, all the crazies and so on. They've been under a lot of stress.' His father says the fact Trump's bill was pushed through while he was still in the process of DOGE-ing everything in sight rubbed Elon the wrong way. So much so that he started tweeting about his former ally's alleged links to Jeffery Epstein from his X account. 'Recently a new bill was put out — and Elon is still in the 'Let's get everything right' mode,' Errol continued. 'He said, 'No, we must not include in such a bill more of this Democrat stupid schemes and money for them, it's not right'. 'But unfortunately, he doesn't realise that in order to get their votes in the Senate and the Congress, Trump has to do that.…' Musk Snr: 'Foolish not to admire Putin' In April, Musk Snr told BBC Russia it 'would be foolish not to admire Putin,' whom he called 'a strong leader.' The elder Musk's trip to Moscow coincides with an increasingly fraught chapter in his son's public life. Elon Musk has entered open conflict with President Donald Trump, trading barbs with his former ally in an increasingly bizarre online brawl. After stepping down from his informal role as an adviser to Trump's administration last month, Elon has turned sharply critical of the president. At the same time, Elon's posture on the Ukraine war has grown closer to Moscow's messaging. Once hailed for deploying Starlink terminals to Ukraine, Elonhas since accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of losing popular support and claimed S military aid was fuelling a 'never-ending draft meat grinder'. Those remarks have earned him praise from Russian state media and certain Duma members. On June 6, Dmitry Novikov, deputy chair of Russia's foreign affairs committee, even floated the idea of granting Musk Jnr political asylum as rumours swirl over his future in the US. Hi company SpaceX holds contracts worth billions with NASA and the Pentagon, including a $1.8 billion deal to build a classified satellite system for US intelligence. While he has demonstrated he is pro-US, his shifting alignment, coupled with the symbolic presence of his father in Moscow, makes the situation all the more delicate for Washington's defence establishment.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's father to attend pro-Kremlin event in Russia hosted by far-right ideologue
Errol Musk, the father of U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, has arrived in Moscow to attend the Forum of the Future 2050, a pro-Kremlin event scheduled for June 9-10, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on June 8. The report comes amid a high-profile public conflict between Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest businessman, and his former ally, U.S. President Donald Trump. In May, Musk announced he would step down as an advisor to Trump and as the de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Since then, he has emerged as a major critic of the president. The pro-Kremlin event will be hosted by the Tsargrad Institute and led by far-right Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin. "I am eager to meet everyone. As far as I know, Russians are among the most intelligent people on the planet. It would be foolish not to ask their opinion on all sorts of issues," Errol Musk was quoted as saying by the Russian state news agency TASS. Among the forum's panels are sessions titled "Russian Space: The Race for Mars" and "The Battle for Hearts and Minds: The Ideology of Sovereign Russia." According to Kommersant, scheduled speakers include Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, and prominent state TV anchor Ekaterina Andreeva. Errol Musk, a former South African businessman and politician, has publicly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him "a strong leader" and saying that "it would be foolish not to admire Putin" in an April interview with BBC Russia. Join our community Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight. Support Us Errol's attendance at the far-right event comes amid growing scrutiny of his son, Elon Musk, whose role as the head of SpaceX and the Starlink satellite network places him at the center of both U.S. defense operations and Ukraine's battlefield communications. SpaceX holds billions in Pentagon and NASA contracts, including a $1.8-billion agreement with the U.S. intelligence community to build a classified spy satellite system. Despite initially aiding Ukraine by providing Starlink terminals to stabilize battlefield communications, Elon Musk has increasingly echoed Kremlin-aligned narratives. He has suggested that President Volodymyr Zelensky lacks public support in Ukraine and has repeatedly called U.S. aid a driver of a "never-ending draft meat grinder." Those statements have been warmly received by Russian officials, military bloggers, and state media outlets, which have praised Musk as a voice of reason and a critic of Western involvement in the war. Dmitry Novikov, deputy chairman of the Russian parliament's international affairs committee, said on June 6 that Moscow is ready to grant political asylum to Musk following his public dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump. Read also: US expects Russia's retaliation for Operation Spiderweb to continue soon We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
