U.S. officials have yet to determine who was responsible for an apparent cyberattack on the social media platform X that disrupted access for thousands of users, according to a Trump administration official familiar with the ongoing investigation.
The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity, described Monday’s outage as a cyberattack but emphasized that the U.S. government had not gathered specific intelligence identifying the perpetrators. The official also noted that the Republican administration takes all cyberattacks against American companies seriously.
These remarks followed Elon Musk’s comments on Fox Business Network’s Kudlow show, where he claimed that the cyberattackers had “IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area” but did not elaborate on what that might imply.
However, cybersecurity experts were quick to point out that the presence of such IP addresses does not necessarily indicate that the attack originated in Ukraine.
Musk, who acquired the platform—formerly known as Twitter—in 2022, also serves as Tesla’s CEO while effectively leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Elon Musk and XHis role in DOGE, which is spearheading efforts to dramatically shrink the federal government, has coincided with challenges for Tesla. The electric vehicle company saw its stock plummet 15% on Monday, marking its steepest one-day decline since September 2020.
Analysts suggest that Musk’s alignment with right-wing politics may be alienating Tesla’s traditional customer base, which is generally perceived as wealthy, environmentally conscious liberals who choose electric vehicles to reduce fossil fuel emissions.
Tesla has also faced protests and vandalism in the U.S. and abroad, with critics opposing Musk’s push for mass federal layoffs, contract cancellations, and aggressive budget cuts.
On Tuesday, Trump announced on his social media platform that he intends to purchase a Tesla to show his “confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American.”
“Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN???” Trump posted.
