Washington: Republican candidate Donald Trump, who is set to return to the White House, on Wednesday hailed Elon Musk, saying America has a “new star” in him, highlighting the tech billionaire’s significant achievements.
Addressing a crowd of supporters at the West Palm Beach convention centre in Florida, the former US President called the X owner a “super genius”.
Trump said Musk’s Starlink satellite service helped save “a lot of lives” during Hurricane Helene, which devastated the southeastern US last month.
“I said to Elon they need it really, really badly in North Carolina. Can you get it? He had that there so fast; it was incredible. It saved a lot of lives. They saved a lot of lives,” Trump told his supporters.
Calling Musk a “special guy,” Trump said: “We have to protect our geniuses, we don’t have that many of them.”
“We have a new star… a star is born – Elon!” Trump added.
Musk has been a stalwart supporter of Trump during the entire presidential campaign. Musk on Wednesday congratulated Trump as he edged closer to victory after winning some key swing states.
“The people of America gave @realDonaldTrump a crystal-clear mandate for change tonight,” posted the tech billionaire amid a record usage of his platform.
“Sure it was a lot of pressure, but it pales by comparison with President @realDonaldTrump, who they tried to kill twice, bankrupt and imprison for eternity,” the X owner further said.
“America is a nation of builders. Soon, you will be free to build. The future is going to be fantastic,” added the world’s richest man.
Musk, the owner of Tesla, SpaceX and X, aggressively campaigned for the Republican candidate in swing states across the country. The tech billionaire donated more than $119 million to America PAC – a political action committee he created to support the former President.
