Several times over a two-hour embrace of words, Elon Musk, the CEO of the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, and former US President Donald Trump exchanged notes about their vision of climate change on X. Musk, while “interviewing” the Republican presidential nominee, said “we shouldn’t vilify the oil and gas industry”.

After the livestream was delayed over 40 minutes due to technical difficulties, they started a discussion that touched on immigration, inflation, foreign policy and climate change. Musk, surprisingly, sprung to the defence of the fossil fuel industry: “The people that have worked very hard in those industries to provide the necessary energy to support the economy.”

Trump remained in control of the interview, leaving just about enough room for Musk to jump in with questions. Trump voiced support for policies at odds with Musk’s business interests, like drilling. Instead he claimed the economy “would collapse” if oil and gas firms were forced to shutdown.

Trump said several times that the threat of a nuclear war is far more important than the threat posed by climate change. He said: “The biggest threat? It’s not global warming, where the ocean’s gonna rise one eighth of an inch over the next 400 years … and you’ll have more oceanfront property, right?”