Elon Musk reacts to bizarre comments by top Putin ally predicting ‘Fourth Reich’: ‘Epic thread!’

Dmitry Medvedev predicts ‘civil war will break out in the US’ in 2023

Elon Musk responded to former Russian president and Vladimir Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev’s prediction for a 2023 US civil war by calling it “epic”.

Among many outlandish predictions for the next year, the former Russian president predicted that “civil war will break out in the US” and that Elon Musk will “win the presidential election in a number of states”.

The Tesla boss and multi-billionaire wrote: “Epic thread!!”

Mr Medvedev on Monday, in a thread on Twitter, doled out his predictions for the following year.

He said: “On the New Year’s Eve [sic], everybody’s into making predictions. Many come up with futuristic hypotheses as if competing to single out the wildest, and even the most absurd ones. Here’s our humble contribution. What can happen in 2023.”

He wrote: “Oil price will rise to $150 a barrel, and gas price will top $5.000 per 1.000 cubic meters.” His second prediction was that “the UK will rejoin the EU” and “the EU will collapse after the UK’s return; Euro will drop out of use as the former EU currency”.

He continued: “Poland and Hungary will occupy western regions of the formerly existing Ukraine.” His fifth prediction was that the “Fourth Reich will be created, encompassing the territory of Germany and its satellites, ie, Poland, the Baltic states, Czechia, Slovakia, the Kiev [sic] Republic, and other outcasts.”

Among his ten predictions for the next year was the one which said that “war will break out between France and the Fourth Reich. Europe will be divided, Poland repartitioned in the process” and “Northern Ireland will separate from the UK and join the Republic of Ireland”.

Earlier in October this year, it was reported that Mr Musk’s Starlink satellite internet will no longer be provided free to Ukrainians and that his SpaceX company apparently asked the Pentagon to pay for it.

Mr Musk suggested that he was pulling the free service after the Ukrainian ambassador was rude to him. The richest man in the world caused fury among many Ukrainians earlier this month with a proposal to end Russia’s war in their country by calling on Kyiv to cede territory gained by Moscow since its invasion in February.

That prompted Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, to angrily shoot back at Mr Musk by telling him to “f*** off” after his proposal that the Russian invasion of Ukraine could be ended by, among other things, formally allowing Russia to annex Crimea.

Commenting on the latest development, Mr Musk has said he is “just following [the] recommendation” of the Ukrainian ambassador.

In response, Ukraine said it would find a way to keep Starlink working.

Mr Musk’s face was covered up on a huge billboard in a city in Ukraine after he suggested Russia should keep control of parts of the country to achieve peace.

The Tesla CEO’s face had been displayed on the poster over a busy road in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa.

The poster, which also featured images of other public figures, including actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Leonardo DiCaprio, says “thanks for the support of Ukraine”.

The erasing of his image comes after Mr Musk tweeted suggestions on how he believes peace could be achieved in eastern Europe.

He suggested that Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, and the recently-annexed Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions should remain in Vladimir Putin’s control to avoid the Russian president resorting to using nuclear weapons.

Ukraine should abandon its plans to join Nato to adopt a neutral status, he also tweeted.

Meanwhile, Mr Medvedev tweeted that “Civil war will break out in the US, California and Texas becoming independent states as a result. Texas and Mexico will form an allied state. Elon Musk’ll win the presidential election in a number of states which, after the new Civil War’s end, will have been given to the GOP”.

He continued: “All the largest stock markets and financial activity will leave the US and Europe and move to Asia.”

His tenth and last prediction for 2023 was that “the Bretton Woods system of monetary management will collapse, leading to the IMF and World Bank crash. Euro and Dollar will stop circulating as the global reserve currencies. Digital fiat currencies will be actively used instead.”

Mr Medvedev then signed off with a rather caustic note: “Season greetings to you all, Anglo-Saxon friends, and their happily oinking piglets!”