Elon Musk gave Donald Trump a shoutout in front of his legions of fans and Tesla Inc. shareholders at the automaker's annual meeting, saying the former president calls him often and is a "huge fan" of the futuristic Cybertruck.
"I have had some conversations with him and he does call me out of the blue for no reason," Tesla's chief executive officer said during the meeting at the company's Austin headquarters on Thursday. "I don't know why, but he does."
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has said he would dismantle President Joe Biden's policies to boost electric vehicle sales. Trump has also said EVs won't work and will hurt US auto workers.
But Trump and Musk have drawn closer recently, with Musk counseling the former president on cryptocurrency policy.
Trump recently praised Musk at a rally in Arizona, saying he was a "big fan" of both EVs and Musk.
Musk said Trump is "very nice when he calls." The Tesla CEO said he told Trump that EVs are good for the future and that the US is the leader in battery-powered cars.
"A lot of his friends now have Teslas, and they all love it, and he's a huge fan of the Cybertruck," Musk said at the shareholder meeting. "So I think maybe those are contributing factors."
During a lengthy question and answer session during Tesla's meeting, Musk also fielded queries about his physical, mental, and emotional health. One man asked whether Musk, who he called an "absolute idol," was doing everything to "take care of yourself, safety and health, for the future of the company."
Musk thanked him for the sentiment and said "I probably need to work out and not get assassinated or something."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
