All the world leaders Elon Musk loves and hates
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is pretty vocal about his likes and dislikes — especially when it comes to government leaders.
The world’s second-richest person doesn’t shy away from rubbing elbows with, and showering praise upon, those who share his views on everything from artificial intelligence to birthrates — and from publicly blasting those who don’t see eye-to-eye with him.
This past week, Musk made headlines for his dispute with Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes over the judge’s request to block certain users on Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
And over the course of the next few weeks, the billionaire businessman is meeting with both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Argentine President Javier Milei — the former being a partner for a potential new Tesla factory, and the latter an ideological ally.
Musk has become a mainstay on the global stage, working with world leaders to tackle a variety of issues. Here’s a list of some of his favorite, and least favorite, world leaders —that we know of.
Javier Milei, President of Argentina
Argentine President Javier Milei met with Musk at a Tesla factory in Austin, Texas on Friday. While it was their first face-to-face meeting, the two have been chummy on Musk’s social media platform X since Milei launched his presidential campaign last year.
The libertarian economist and self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist,” who took office in December and is often compared to former President Donald Trump, is a regular X user. His frequent and sometimes inflammatory posts on the platform helped him build a groundswell of support, particularly from young men in Argentina.
“I have no doubt that Elon Musk will be an active player and he will have a major role in the new Argentina that is leaving behind the decadence of 100 of years of populism,” Milei told Bloomberg in an interview published earlier this month.
Musk praised the Argentine leader throughout his presidential campaign. “Prosperity is ahead for Argentina,” Musk wrote after Milei won the November election.
More recently, Musk shared a video of one of Milei’s speeches at the World Economic Forum’s annual conference in Davos earlier this year, calling it a “good explanation of what makes countries more or less prosperous.”
Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy
Musk’s trips to Italy to meet with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made waves last year, after the pair formed what seemed to be an unexpectedly close friendship.
The pair first hit it off at Meloni’s Rome residence last June, where they were pictured laughing and hugging. The pair reportedly chatted about the risks of AI, Italy’s low birth rate, and deregulation in the European Union.
Months later, Musk was a guest of honor at the annual conference hosted by the Italian PM’s political party, Brothers of Italy, in December. At the event, Musk urged the crowd to “make more Italians to save Italy’s culture.” Meloni’s far-right government has turned the push to boost Italy’s laggard birthrate into a signature patriotic effort.
And last October, Musk liked Meloni’s post announcing the end of her 10-year relationship with her daughter’s father.
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
Musk announced Wednesday on X that he will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India.
The BBC reports that the meeting will take place during the last week of April at Modi’s official residence in New Delhi. The talks will reportedly include a discussion about Tesla’s plans to start manufacturing electric vehicles in India.
The two met in New York last June during the Indian leader’s first state visit to the U.S. After their meeting, Musk told reporters that Modi “really cares about India because he’s pushing us to make significant investments in India, which is something we intend to do.”
“I am a fan of Modi,” Musk said in a video interview posted to Modi’s YouTube page in June.
As Tesla faces slowdowns in major markets, namely the U.S. and China, he is looking to open new factories in places with high-growth potential — like India.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel
Musk visited Israel in November during a brief truce in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
The visit came amid accusations of antisemitism against Musk, following his agreement with posts expressing antisemitic view on X. His social media platform was also accused of placing advertisements from major companies, including IBM and Lionsgate, next to pro-Nazi and white nationalist content.
During the visit, Musk said he would not provide Starlink satellite internet access to the Gaza Strip through his company SpaceX without first receiving approval from the Israeli government.
The pair also discussed the risks of AI in a live-streamed chat on X.
Last June, Netanyahu said Musk’s “genius & impact on humanity are formidable,” after discussing an AI strategy for Israel. Musk responded by thanking the Israeli PM for “recognizing concerns about safety of digital superintelligence.”
Emmanuel Macron, President of France
France has proven to be another potential site for a new Tesla gigafactory — and Musk and French President Emmanuel Macron have remained in particularly close contact over the past year to discuss the development.
Musk met with Macron twice in a little over a month last year to talk about “artificial intelligence, in which [Musk] is involved, social media, regulation framework,” as well as “cars, batteries, to promote French and European attractiveness,” the French leader told reporters ahead of their second meeting in June.
The Tesla CEO made his way to the Elysée Palace again last month to attend the bestowment of the Grand Cross of the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest honor, on LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault.
Musk reportedly took advantage of the visit to meet with Macron on “attractiveness and investments,” Politico reported.
Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine
Musk and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have had a publicly contentious relationship since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In October, Musk posted a meme on X mocking the wartime leader’s requests for military aid from allies in its war against Russia. The photo is captioned: “When it’s been 5 min and you haven’t asked for a billion dollars in aid.”
In the early days of the war, Ukrainian officials and allies praised the tech mogul for his decision to provide the country with Starlink satellite internet terminals. This relationship soured, however, when Musk shared a poll on his account that proposed Ukraine cede annexed territory to Russia to end the war.
Zelensky hit back at the billionaire with a poll of his own, asking which Musk people prefer: One who supports Ukraine, or one who supports Russia? Ukrainian diplomat Andrii Melnyk gave a more direct response to Musk’s poll, replying: “F— off is my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk.”
Starlink, a branch of Musk’s SpaceX, has become a particular point of contention in the Russia-Ukraine war, particularly after Musk blocked the use of Starlink internet for Ukraine to launch a surprise attack on Russian forces in Crimea in September 2022.
Leo Varadkar, Prime Minister of Ireland
After Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar vowed to modernize the country’s laws around hatred and incitement, Musk took to X to air his disagreement with the decision.
“Ironically, the Irish PM hates the Irish people,” Musk said in November.
Varadkar made the comments in response to riots that plunged Dublin into chaos after five people, including three children, were stabbed by someone who was believed at the time to not have been an Irish citizen. The suspect was later found to be an Irish citizen who had previously emigrated from Algeria.
Musk, a self-described staunch “free speech absolutist,” has long railed against laws and rules that he perceives to infringe on people’s rights to freedom of speech. In an interview with Gript in January, Musk said he would fund any legal challenges to the Irish “hate speech” legislation.
The businessman said the default position of X is to “challenge any legislation that infringes on the people’s ability to say what they want to say.”
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said the legislation, officially known as the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill, will move forward from the Senate this year.
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Musk has also attacked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the country’s new broadcasting laws — and taken some personal jabs at the Liberal Party leader himself.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission laid out new rules last October requiring online streaming services that operate in Canada, offer broadcasting content, and earn $10 million or more in annual revenues to register and share information with the agency.
“Trudeau is trying to crush free speech in Canada. Shameful,” Musk said in response.
But Musk’s attacks against Trudeau go beyond ideological disagreements around free speech. In a Feb. 22 post, Musk mocked the Canadian prime minister using photos of him in “brownface,” as well as wearing traditional items during ceremonies and country visits.
Musk sarcastically credited the images, which are real, to Google’s AI chatbot Gemini, which came under fire for generating historically inaccurate images.
Trudeau painted his face brown for an “Arabian Nights”-themed party at the private school where he was teaching in spring 2001, photos of which surfaced for the first time in 2019. The Canadian leader later apologized for the incident, saying that he regretted it deeply and “should have known better.”
Alexandre de Moraes
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes is the latest international figure to become the target of Musk’s ire over free speech.
De Moraes issued a decision in April launching two probes into the tech billionaire. The first is part of an ongoing investigation into the spread of fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices in the country. The second will investigate whether Musk engaged in obstruction, criminal organization, and incitement after he said the platform would defy court orders to block certain accounts, referring to de Moraes’ requests as the “most draconian demands of any country on Earth!”
Musk also referred to de Moraes as “the dictator of Brazil,” saying he “has [Brazilian president Lula da Silva] on a leash.”
Musk accused the judge of “aggressive censorship” and of violating Brazilian laws and the country’s constitution. He encouraged X users based in Brazil to download virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent a potential shutdown of the social media platform. And he also called for de Moraes’ resignation and impeachment.