US President Donald Trump, never one to mince words, took aim at tech billionaires during a fiery commencement speech at the University of Alabama, declaring that the same “internet people” who hated him during his first term are now desperate to win his favor, including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
“You have to break the system a little bit and follow your own instincts, but if your vision is right, nothing will hold you down. Nothing. You have to have the right vision,” Trump told graduates, according to Mediaite.
In a rare moment of backhanded praise for Musk, Trump added, “If you look at some of these internet people, I know so many of them. Elon is so terrific. But I know now all of them. You know, they all hated me in my first term, and now they’re kissing my a**.”
He doubled down, “It’s true. All of them. It’s true.”
Trump used the moment to lay out his philosophy on success, “Progress never comes from those satisfied with the failures of a broken system. It comes from those who wanna fix the broken system, and you’ll make the bigger money, you’ll make more success by acting that way. The other way may be more secure, but if you wanna go to the top, you’re just never gonna do it unless you break the system.”
Shifting from billionaires to himself, Trump reminded the audience of his outsider credentials, “It’s amazing. It’s nicer this way. Now in the first, you know, they didn’t know what happened because I won an election that, you know, there was never a businessman that won a presidential election. Out of 100%, 8% were generals and 92% were politicians. Not even admirals. Just generals.”
Trump’s remarks sparked a flurry of reactions online. One user wrote, “This guy has no decency,” while another added, “Elon sucks. H1B visas. Anti-Americans.” A third chimed in sarcastically: “Very presidential of him.” A fourth warned, “Oh Donald, you’ll regret those words.”
The tension between Trump and Musk has been brewing for years. In 2022, Musk tweeted that Trump was too old to run again and should “hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.” Musk clarified, “I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat… Dems should also call off the attack, don’t make it so that Trump’s only way to survive is to regain the Presidency.”
Trump, in turn, claimed that Musk would have “gotten on his knees and begged” for help when he first visited the White House.
This isn’t the first time Trump has claimed others were pleading with him. In past speeches, he said world leaders were calling and “kissing my a**… dying to make a deal” after his aggressive tariff policies rocked global trade.
