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Following widespread outages on Monday that prevented thousands of users from accessing X, Elon Musk said that the social media platform was under a "massive cyberattack." “We face attacks daily, but this one was executed with substantial resources,” Musk stated in a post. “Either a large, coordinated group and/or a nation is involved. Tracing …” Musk clashes with Polish FM over Starlink in Ukraine; calls him ‘small man’ Later that day, during an appearance on Fox Business Network’s Kudlow, Musk mentioned that the attackers’ “IP addresses originated in the Ukraine region,” though he did not elaborate on the implications. However, cybersecurity experts quickly noted that this does not necessarily indicate that Ukraine was the source of the attack. Security researcher Kevin Beaumont wrote on Bluesky that Musk's statement lacked a crucial detail—"the IPs actually came from all over the world, not just Ukraine.” Beaumont identified the attack as a Mirai variant botnet, comprising compromised cameras. While he could not determine who was responsible, he remarked that it “smells of APTs—advanced persistent teenagers.” Allan Liska from cybersecurity firm Recorded Future further explained that even if “every IP address that targeted Twitter today came from Ukraine (which is unlikely), they were most likely compromised devices controlled by a botnet run by an unknown third party, which could be operating from anywhere.” Reports of outages surged at 6 a.m. Eastern Time and again at 10 a.m., with over 40,000 users unable to access X, according to tracking website Downdetector.com. By the afternoon, the number of complaints had declined to the low thousands. A prolonged disruption lasting at least an hour began at noon, primarily affecting the U.S. coastal regions. Downdetector.com reported that 56% of the reported issues were related to the X app, while 33% were linked to the website. Nissan tests driverless cars on busy Japan city streets Without access to X’s internal technical data, verifying Musk’s claims is impossible, and the probability of the company releasing such information is “pretty low,” according to Nicholas Reese, an adjunct instructor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and an expert in cyber operations. Reese suggested that it was unlikely a nation-state was behind the attack, given the relatively short duration of the outages—unless it was intended as a precursor to something more significant. “There are essentially two types of cyberattacks—some are meant to be highly visible, while others are designed to be stealthy,” he explained. “The most valuable attacks tend to be the quiet ones. This incident was clearly meant to be noticed, which almost certainly rules out state actors. The benefit they would gain from such an attack is minimal.” Reese also speculated that a group may have intended to make a statement by disrupting X but noted that a temporary outage “doesn’t seem like much of a statement.” “It only becomes meaningful if it’s followed by further action, which I wouldn’t dismiss at this stage,” he added. In March 2023, when the platform was still known as Twitter, it suffered a series of technical glitches for over an hour, causing broken links, login failures, and image-loading issues. Meanwhile, “X outage” was trending on rival platform Bluesky, with users welcoming newcomers and encouraging them to stay. Musk, who acquired the platform in 2022, is also Tesla’s CEO. While overseeing X, he maintains access to U.S. government data systems—frequently sporting a T-shirt that reads “tech support.”

The Trump administration may consider excluding government spending from GDP reports, potentially obscuring the effects of cuts to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), reports AP> Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick mentioned on Sunday that government spending could be separated from GDP figures in response to concerns about whether cuts advocated by Elon Musk's DOGE might lead to an economic downturn. Trump declares English as official language of US "Governments have historically manipulated GDP," Lutnick stated on Fox News Channel's “Sunday Morning Futures.” "They include government spending as part of GDP. I plan to separate the two and make this clear." This move could complicate or distort a key economic measure. Government spending is usually part of GDP because changes in taxes, spending, deficits, and regulations can influence overall economic growth. Current GDP reports already provide detailed information on government spending, offering transparency for economists. Musk's push to reduce federal agency sizes could result in the layoff of tens of thousands of federal employees. Their loss of income could reduce spending, potentially affecting businesses and the broader economy. Trump set to sign order declaring English the official U.S. language Lutnick's comments align with Musk's earlier remarks on X, where he argued that government spending does not generate economic value. “A more accurate GDP measure would exclude government spending,” Musk posted on his social media platform. “Otherwise, GDP can be artificially inflated by spending on things that don’t improve people's lives.” This viewpoint, as expressed by Trump administration officials, downplays the economic benefits of certain types of government spending that can influence economic growth. “If the government buys a tank, that counts as GDP,” Lutnick said. “But paying 1,000 people to think about buying a tank is not GDP. That’s wasted inefficiency, wasted money. And cutting that, while it shows up in GDP, we’re going to eliminate it.” The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis released its latest GDP report on Thursday, showing a 2.3% annual growth rate in the final quarter of the previous year. The report highlights the economic forces at play, showing that the year-end gains were largely due to increased consumer spending and a revision to federal defense spending. However, the federal government's contribution to GDP growth in 2024 was 2.6%, slightly lower than the overall economy's growth of 2.8%. Government spending accounted for nearly one-fifth of personal income, totaling over $24.6 trillion last year. This includes Social Security, veterans' benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs, while also accounting for taxes paid to the government. Government spending doesn't always contribute to GDP growth and can sometimes detract from it, as seen in 2022 when pandemic-related aid ended. Lutnick said that the Trump administration would balance the federal budget through spending cuts, aiming to promote growth and reduce consumer interest rates. "When we balance the United States budget, interest rates will drop significantly," Lutnick said. “This will lead to the best economy anyone has ever seen, and betting against it would be foolish.”