The publicity was a potential boon for AfD, which has been frozen out of mainstream politics, in part, because its leaders have downplayed Nazi atrocities.

Elon Musk urged Germans to vote for the far-right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) in an upcoming election in a conversation with its leader on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that highlighted the US billionaire’s growing ambition to sway European politics.

With Germany's election in six weeks, Elon Musk was full of praise for his livestream guest on X: Alice Weidel, the far-right Alternative for Germany party's candidate for chancellor.

Elon Musk walked back his previous claim that he could cut at least $2 trillion from the federal budget, saying Wednesday that half that amount would be “an epic outcome.”

In a Wednesday interview on X, Elon Musk said cuts of $2 trillion to the federal budget might not be possible and was a "best-case outcome."