Russia could offer political asylum to tech billionaire Elon Musk following his public fallout with U.S.
President Donald Trump, a senior Russian lawmaker said Friday, though the Kremlin has sought to distance itself from the feud.Musk and Trump, seen as close allies since the 2024 U.S.
presidential election, exchanged threats on Thursday over revoked government contracts and impeachment after the worlds richest man criticized the Republican presidents sweeping tax and spending bill.If he did [need political asylum], of course, Russia could offer it, said Dmitry Novikov, first deputy chairman of the State Dumas International Affairs Committee, in comments to the state-run TASS news agency.However,Novikov, a member of the Communist Party, said he believes that Musk is playing a completely different game and he wont be needing any political asylum.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to weigh in on the spat when asked for comment on Friday.This is a domestic issue of the United States, and we dont intend to interfere, Peskov told reporters.
Were confident the U.S.
president will handle this situation on his own.Russia has previously granted asylum to U.S.
whistleblower Edward Snowden and pro-Kremlin British blogger Graham Phillips.Musk resigned last week as head of a controversial federal agency, known as DOGE, aimed at slashing U.S.
government spending.
He said Trumps spending bill would add to the U.S.
debt, prompting the president to say he wasvery disappointed about the billionaires criticism.Musk, who donated $300 million to Trumps 2024 campaign, later argued that the Republican president would not have won re-election without his support.The clash has already rattled markets, with shares in Musks Tesla plunging and the billionaire vowing to end a key U.S.
space program.AFP and Reuters contributed reporting.