Elon Musk pulled no punches about the ongoing war in Ukraine, asserting soldiers are being deployed into a “meat grinder for money” as part of the “biggest graft machine” he’s ever seen.
Musk made the comments at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., in an interview carried live by Newsmax and moderated by host Rob Schmitt. Musk credited President Donald Trump for having “empathy” and pushed back on critics of Trump for negotiating with Russia to put an end to the war.
“Well, first of all, I think we should have empathy for the people dying at the front lines. That’s the most important thing,” Musk told Schmitt and the audience. “You know, it’s like, how many more years does this supposed to go on? And imagine if that was your son, your father. … What are they dying for? What exactly are they dying for?
“That line of engagement has barely moved for two years. There’s a whole bunch of people dead in trenches. For what? And I’ll tell you what for, it’s like for the biggest graft machine that I’ve ever seen in my life. That’s for what. It’s unreal,” he added. “Like, the amount of money that is being taken in graft and bribery is disgusting. And so what’s actually happening is that those … poor guys are getting sent into a meat grinder for money. That’s what’s actually going on. And it needs to stop.”
Earlier Thursday, Musk took aim at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying Trump was right to not involve him in peace talks and called him “despised” by the people in his own country.
“In reality, he is despised by the people of Ukraine, which is why he has refused to hold an election. I challenge Zelensky to hold an election and refute this. He will not,” Musk said in a post to X. “President Trump is right to ignore him and solve for peace independent of the disgusting, massive graft machine feeding off the dead bodies of Ukrainian soldiers.”
Back at CPAC, Musk said Trump has “empathy.”
“And a lot of people out there don’t realize, like the president has a lot of empathy. He really cares. You know, he’s a good guy. He’s a good man,” Musk said.
