Elon Musk discloses two assassination bids on him, backs Trump after shooting

Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and owner of the social media platform X, revealed that two attempts were made on his life in the past eight months.

The incidents, which involved individuals arrested with guns near Tesla’s headquarters in Texas, were disclosed after an X user voiced concerns about his safety following an assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump.

“Please, please triple your protection. If they can come for Trump they will also come for you,” the X user said.

Musk replied, “Dangerous times ahead. Two people (separate occasions) have already tried to kill me in the past 8 months. They were arrested with guns about 20 mins drive from Tesla HQ in Texas (sic).”

The SpaceX chief’s admission came after a gunman opened fire at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one attendee and critically injuring two others.

Secret Service agents shot and killed the suspected shooter, who attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue. Trump reported on social media that a bullet “pierced the upper part” of his right ear before agents whisked him offstage.

Musk has previously expressed claimed that he could be killed at any moment. In 2022, he accused tech reporters of sharing his real-time location, “basically assassination coordinates” and banned their X accounts.

The suspensions apparently stemmed from the journalists’ coverage of a now banned X account called @ElonJet, which used publicly available flight records to update followers on where Musk’s private jet was flying.

The world’s richest man was also threatened by former Russian space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin over the supply of Starlink satellite internet service to Ukraine.

Musk, who is shadowed by bodyguards at all times, had joked about the threat, saying, “If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya.”

In the aftermath of the Trump rally incident, Musk announced his endorsement of the Republican, stating, “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.”

He also called for the head of the Secret Service to resign, describing Saturday’s shooting as “extreme incompetence” or “deliberate.”