President Joe Biden said Elon Musk’s relationships with other countries, specifically his acquisition of Twitter with help from a Saudi Arabian conglomerate, is “worthy of being looked at.” President Biden was asked about the topic at a White House press conference Wednesday.
“I think that Elon Musk’s cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at,” Biden said. “Whether or not he is doing anything inappropriate, I’m not suggesting that. I’m suggesting that it’s worth being looked at. But that’s all I’ll say.”
When asked “how” Musk’s relationships with Saudi Arabia should be looked at, Biden said “there’s a lot of ways” before moving onto the next question. Last month, the White House said reports the United States was discussing launching a national security review of some of Musk’s ventures including Twitter were “not true.”
Musk’s purchase of Twitter sparked concerns that he could face pressure from countries trying to control online speech. In addition to getting help from a Saudi conglomerate in order to purchase Twitter, Musk’s electric car company Tesla counts China as a key market and production base.
There is also Musk’s attempts to conduct foreign policy on behalf of the United States. Musk previously suggested that tensions between China and Taiwan could be resolved by handing over some control of Taiwan to Beijing. He also proposed Ukraine permanently cede Crimea to Russia, while saying his rocket and satellite internet company SpaceX could not indefinitely fund Starlink in Ukraine.
Reuters contributed to this report.
