On Friday, Donald Trump Jr. and tech magnate Elon Musk shared a lighthearted exchange about buying MSNBC. The conversation began when Trump Jr., the eldest son of President-elect Trump, posted a meme on social media about the news outlet potentially being for sale.
Sharing the meme on X, a platform Musk owns, Trump Jr. excitedly tagged Musk, saying, “Hey @elonmusk I have the funniest idea ever!!!” Musk responded to the tweet with a simple inquiry: “How much does it cost?” Later, Musk remarked that the potential sale of MSNBC would be “the most entertaining outcome” and called it an “ironic” scenario.
Media takeover speculation swirls as Musk, Trump Jr., and Rogan joke about MSNBC
This banter unfolded just two days after Comcast announced its plan to spin off its NBCUniversal assets, which include MSNBC, USA Network, CNBC, and other properties, into a newly formed publicly traded company. However, Comcast did not indicate that selling MSNBC was a part of their plans.
Musk’s exchange with Trump Jr. mirrors a similar interaction in 2017 when a social media user encouraged him to buy Twitter. At that time, Musk replied, “How much is it?” In 2022, Musk went on to purchase the platform, later rebranding it as X, for $44 billion.
On the same day, podcaster Joe Rogan joined in on the fun, responding to Musk on X with an offer to take over Rachel Maddow’s role at MSNBC if Musk followed through with the purchase. “If you buy MSNBC I would like Rachael Maddow’s job,” Rogan wrote. “I will wear the same outfit and glasses, and I will tell the same lies.”
MSNBC hosts, including Maddow, Joe Scarborough, and Mika Brzezinski, have long been outspoken critics of Trump. Scarborough and Brzezinski revealed on Monday that they had visited Mar-a-Lago last week to meet with the president-elect and discuss reducing political divisions in the country.
Brzezinski noted it was the first time in seven years they had met Trump face-to-face, which sparked backlash from some viewers. Following Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election over Vice President Harris, MSNBC’s viewership reportedly dropped 38 percent, according to TheWrap.
