The escalating feud between U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk has sparked a wave of amusement and opportunistic commentary in Russia, where top officials and media personalities have turned the spat into a spectacle of political theatre and satire.
Nationalist senator Dmitry Rogozin, formerly the head of Russia’s space agency, extended a tongue-in-cheek invitation to Musk via X (formerly Twitter). “Elon, don’t be upset!” he wrote. “If you encounter insurmountable problems in the U.S., come to us. Here you will find reliable comrades and complete freedom of technical creativity.”
Meanwhile, former Russian President and current Security Council deputy chair Dmitry Medvedev offered to broker peace between the two American giants. “We are ready to facilitate the conclusion of a peace deal between D and E for a reasonable fee and to accept Starlink shares as payment,” he quipped online. “Don’t fight, guys!”
Moscow’s political elite appeared to relish the public squabble, which they interpreted as yet another symbol of dysfunction within American political and business circles. Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Kremlin-backed RT network, ridiculed the feud as a hallmark of “modern U.S. political culture,” adding sarcastically that it was “like the English Industrial Revolution. Only in reverse.”
Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a past advocate for Russian-American collaboration on Mars missions, took a lighter approach. Posting on X, he asked Grok — the AI chatbot developed by Musk’s company how the two could reconcile, further blurring the lines between satire and geopolitics.
Though Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the conflict as an “internal matter” for the U.S., he expressed confidence in Trump’s ability to juggle multiple issues.
However, some saw strategic advantage in the distraction. Nationalist tycoon Konstantin Malofeyev declared it “the best time to strike back” against Ukraine, implying that internal American drama could create a geopolitical opening for Russia.
As Washington digests the fallout from the Trump-Musk feud, Moscow appears to be enjoying the show and angling for any potential spoils.
