Why Elon Musk is trolling world leaders

Elon Musk, the world's richest man, South African-born American resident and owner of X (formerly Twitter), is already within the fold of US politics and president-elect Trump's upcoming government.  
  
Recently, more of his attention has turned to Europe, with Musk sharing support for the far-right German party AfD, Nigel Farage's Reform UK and far-right activist Tommy Robinson.   
  
Niall Paterson looks to unpick what Musk's aims for European politics might be. Our deputy political editor Sam Coates joins Niall to discuss the billionaire's posts on X and the political reaction to them.  
  
Plus, culture, technology and society writer Sarah Manavis joins Niall to explore why Musk is so interested in international politics, and for what potential gain. 
 
Producer: Rosie Gillott 
Editor: Philly Beaumont 

[nanageo]

He should be trolling himself . HE IS DEEPLY DISTURBED!

[Ju]

an unscrupulous oligarch without any trace of morality, immensely greedy for money and power

[atik-rgt-uk]

The guy looks like his face has been ironed on x random yep

[ianto]

People keep forgetting that he is in social media. He's just some guy with a large bank account tweeting. People should just ignore him and move on.

[Ahng_Noying]

"Trolling"? That's a funny way of saying ""buying".

[saltyberryapothecary]

He's Touting the SOCIAL CREDIT SCORES... GREAT DECEIVER

[UNIVERSAL-UR]

To be fair, elon is making good points while the media troll the mindless sheep

[oceanwave]

I like Musk. I'm tired of political correctness. 😤

[twisteddancer]

Musk is doing a great job holding our government to account. Something we are not allowed to do

[sailorichiban]

Censorship everywhere…… Mr. Musk is a breath of fresh air !!!

[hugoboss]

THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE GO GET THEM BRO.

[kurtolsen]

It is not Trump that is the contemporary Hitlxx it is Musk

[LawrenceBishton]

Im glad hes leading them the wanders behond are yet to

[eoinphotography]

This woman has no regard for the truth. Twitter/X usage grew year over year from 2023 to 2024 and is higher than before he purchased it.

[dondraper]

Somebody’s got too,
Accountability is important !

[Diesel-ivmz]

Things will end badly between him and Trump. Too much testosterone.

[mohdnorzaihar]

Elon attempt to raise more money from social media(after his money being used in elections)

[Slumbert]

Ask democrats if they will return Greenland if Trump takes Greenland

[GrandsonlittleBilly]

We need to #endtrolling it's immature and doesn't encourage conversation about diversity.

[molkakaminski]

do we believe in politicians or the greatest inventor of the century?!?