Elon Musk spends a lot of his time reposting and replying to social media posts on X, continuously with unmarried phrase feedback like “wow,” “fact” or “fascinating.” Musk’s clout as the landlord of X and its maximum influential person implies that the posts he interacts with generally tend to achieve popular consideration, continuously attaining no less than 1,000,000 perspectives.
One account sticks out — run via Australian crypto entrepreneur Mario Nawfal. NPR’s assessment of Musk’s X timeline displays that Musk interacted with Nawfal’s account over 1,200 occasions between August 2024 and early April 2025. Despite the fact that it is a small fraction of all of Musk’s actions on X, the 2 engage on a near-daily foundation, some distance outstripping different fashionable accounts Musk reposts and replies to. Tough other people, together with overseas leaders, appear to be taking observe. Since Jan. 20, when Musk develop into an consultant to President Trump, Nawfal has posted lengthy interviews on YouTube with 5 top ministers and presidents, in addition to the Russian overseas minister.
“A variety of political actors obviously see Nawfal no longer handiest as an invaluable amplifier, but in addition as an immediate bridge to Elon Musk and the White Area,” mentioned Emerson Brooking, a researcher on the Atlantic Council’s Virtual Forensic Analysis Lab. “If Nawfal is sharing a tale, there is a just right likelihood that U.S. policymakers are studying it — and performing on it.” Nawfal says he desires to make use of his get entry to to global leaders to bridge divides. “There may be simply such a lot of extra similarities between Moscow and New York or between Beijing and London,” he informed NPR in an interview. Nawfal additionally mentioned he hopes the publicity will deliver extra offers to his corporate. Once in a while, Nawfal’s posts bounce by means of Musk into President Trump’s feed. In February, Nawfal repeated a false declare in a week-old put up accusing the inside track outlet Reuters of enticing in “huge scale social deception”. The put up refers to a Protection Division contract involving a special corporate that stocks a mum or dad with Reuters — no longer the inside track company. Musk reposted it inside of mins after which President Trump repeated the false declare day after today.
“Nawfal is the top instance of stories brokering,” mentioned Mert Can Bayar, a postdoctoral researcher at College of Washington. Bayar has studied the upward thrust of a brand new technology of news-focused influencers on X since Musk purchased the platform in 2022, who’re taking each content material and limelight from newsrooms all through primary breaking information occasions. X and Musk didn’t reply to requests for remark for this tale.
Emerging in occasions of disaster Earlier than turning into a information influencer on X, Nawfal introduced a crypto incubator, which he nonetheless runs, and hosted displays targeted at the ups and downs of the crypto global.
Nawfal and Musk seem to have first crossed paths publicly in November 2022, when Musk joined an X reside audio communicate — referred to as an X Area — Nawfal was once internet hosting concerning the cave in of cryptocurrency trade FTX. With Musk’s look and Nawfal’s heavy promotion, Nawfal’s follower depend swelled via tens of hundreds. Nawfal mentioned he first spotted the ability of speaking about information on X when he hosted an audio discuss a missile explosion in Poland close to the Ukrainian border on the finish of 2022. ” a large number of non-crypto other people got here in and began listening. And that’s the reason after I discovered that, hiya, this has much more attainable past simply crypto,” he mentioned.
Nawfal mentioned he now has a group that writes over 100 posts on X an afternoon and works across the clock. When Nawfal posted about Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s coup try in opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the summertime of 2023, Musk posted: “Easiest protection of the location I have observed to this point is from Mario” and promoted Nawfal’s X Area at the subject. Nawfal’s following grew via over 300,000 in sooner or later — an over 50% building up in his follower depend on the time.
Within the aftermath of Hamas’s assault on Israel in Oct. 7, 2023, the six information organizations who won probably the most site visitors on X nonetheless had fewer mixed perspectives than Nawfal on my own, and Nawfal wasn’t even the highest influencer on the time, mentioned Bayar, the UW researcher. “It is a paradise for [the news brokers] as a result of they do not do any screening,” Bayar mentioned. “So they are able to tweet a large number of issues in 10 mins.” Nawfal mentioned it is not his group’s activity to vet posts for accuracy. “Do we all know if there is actual tunnels underneath a undeniable medical institution? Do we all know if the warriors are within the medical institution? How the hell can I do know? It is unimaginable to grasp. Even supposing I had a reporter at the flooring, they most definitely would not be capable of in finding out the reality,” he informed NPR. “So the way in which we would be able to come to a decision in actual fact like, let’s have a look at what each side are pronouncing.”
Israel has most commonly barred newshounds from Gaza since its battle there.
‘Taking a stance’ on U.S. politics Because the U.S. presidential election heated up in 2024, Nawfal interviewed outstanding conservatives, together with individuals who have long gone on to sign up for the present Trump management, corresponding to Federal Communications Fee chair Brendan Carr in August, Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Well being and Human Products and services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr in September. Lots of them, like Musk, allege that conservative voices were unfairly censored via social media corporations and different establishments. “I was balanced on the entirety, and now I have taken a couple of stances,” Nawfal mentioned. “Unfastened speech is one. I have develop into extra vital of the ultimate management and extra supportive of the Trump management.” After Musk took on a outstanding position as a White Area consultant to President Trump, he stored interacting with Nawfal on X. About part of Nawfal’s posts that Musk’s interacted with within the duration NPR tested had been about Musk himself, his corporations and his paintings on the White Area. The remainder repackaged information articles, news-focused X posts and on occasion presented observation. Nawfal’s X account continuously cites information organizations as assets, together with Vox, Politico, Fortune, Fox Information, The Father or mother, the BBC and public radio stations. The account does not hyperlink to the underlying information tales, however does tag X accounts that don’t seem to be information organizations indexed as assets. X’s set of rules downranks posts with hyperlinks, that means customers are much less more likely to see them of their feeds, Bayar mentioned. “Which is an issue for info literacy, virtual media literacy, truth checking and data credibility.” Once in a while Nawfal’s writeup carries a special framing than the tales apparently to supply from. A put up that pointed at The Gentleman Report and NPR as assets claimed that some federal staff “do not need to paintings with out far flung perks and table naps.” However a assessment of the organizations’ protection about Trump’s return-to-office order from the 2 retailers didn’t point out far flung perks or naps.
“The manner of our information has roughly shifted from being very bland to … turning into extra tongue in cheek and roughly making it extra funny,” Nawfal mentioned. “It is been making improvements to retention.” NPR was once no longer ready to independently test Nawfal’s claims about efficiency. Nawfal mentioned he may no longer recall the precise put up about federal staff when NPR requested about it, however mentioned the nap reference was once “beautiful glaring to be funny” and was once “innocuous”.
World leaders In an interview with NPR, Nawfal didn’t recall interviewing any sitting heads of states sooner than Musk took up his position on the White Area —- even though he did recall talking with two former ones.
Nawfal credit his get entry to to global leaders to his affect on X, but in addition to the way in which he approaches his interviews. “Media retailers simply do not constitute them the similar manner. Like, any media outlet would no longer constitute President Xi Jinping the similar manner they might constitute the chief of NATO, or the chief of France.” Nawfal mentioned that he is been “very, very goal” in the case of geopolitics. In his lengthy interviews with global leaders, together with the presidents of Kosovo, Serbia, Rwanda, Belarus and top minister of Slovakia, Nawfal has a tendency not to interrupt or chase away in opposition to his visitors’ claims. Many repeated not unusual Kremlin speaking issues of their appearances. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko repeated claims that justified Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, whilst Russian overseas minister Sergey Lavrov puzzled whether or not a bloodbath in Ukraine dedicated via Russian forces had in truth befell.
Nawfal does no longer handiest communicate to pro-Russia figures. President Vjosa Osmani of Kosovo introduced up Russia’s historical past of breaking peace agreements and expounded on how NATO and USAID has helped her nation. Nawfal informed NPR he has an upcoming sequence that specialize in Ukraine’s point of view concerning the battle. “I visited one of the most destroyed houses, [and] additionally were given on a movie excursion of the Bucha bloodbath,” he mentioned. Nawfal mentioned on the time of interview with NPR {that a} trailer for the sequence would pop out “in a couple of days”. He additionally acknowledges that after he does not indicate inaccuracies, his target market would possibly take the content material as truth. “Something that newshounds do on this planet that is in point of fact essential is that they chase away when it is vital. It is an artwork that I am evidently nonetheless seeking to best,” he mentioned. Nawfal promotes the lengthy interviews via making quick clips and posting them with quotes onto X and YouTube. One follow-up clip to an interview with Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić was once titled “Vucic Finds Reality About Anti-Protestor Sonic Guns”. A clip concerning the interview with Belarus’s chief was once titled “Lukashenko Finds Reality About Ukraine Mineral Deal”.
Visitors as opposed to heads of states have additionally gained the “fact” designation — Aleskandr Dugin, an excessive Russian nationalist who advocates for Russia’s growth; and influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who’re going through fees in Romania over accusations of human trafficking and forming a felony gang to sexually exploit girls.
“[It’s] no longer our position to mention what’s the fact and what isn’t the reality,” Nawfal informed NPR when requested concerning the video titles, promising to “have it mounted”. He mentioned he spotted it, too, when somebody in his group wrote the name. “Once I had the dialogue with him, he was once like, other people click on on it when it says ‘the reality’.” The names of the movies had been unchanged on the time of this tale’s e-newsletter. The embassies of Kosovo, Serbia, Rwanda, Belarus and Slovakia didn’t reply to NPR’s request for remark about how their leaders’ interviews with Nawfal happened.
‘Loyalty’ to X and Musk Whilst Nawfal’s X account boasts 2.2 million fans and his bio claims he has the “Greatest Display on X,” Nawfal’s interviews with global leaders handiest get hundreds of perspectives on YouTube. He mentioned that even though he has a group working his YouTube account, he desires to be very “X unique”. “I roughly have that loyalty on account of the strengthen that has given me and in addition my willpower to unfastened speech,” Nawfal mentioned. Nawfal’s content material continuously turns out to reply to Musk’s pursuits. In February, Musk posted: “Any individual need to create a hard-hitting display on X referred to as 69 Mins? I will be able to in truth fund it!” One month later, Nawfal put in combination a pilot for a display that mentioned present affairs. In some other nod to Musk’s humorousness, it aired on a Sunday at 4:20pm. “I believe he reposts the content material he concurs with and I simply attempt to deliver as a lot price to the platform as imaginable,” Nawfal mentioned about Musk. “There may be this public communique, there is not anything extra to it.”
Nawfal later adopted as much as say he had no feedback about his communications with Musk. Nawfal mentioned that he is no longer asking Musk to fund “69 Mins,” regardless of Musk’s be offering to take action. Nor does he take sponsorship for his “political displays, he mentioned.” “If you find yourself financially smartly off, you are in a greater position to not be influenced.” However Nawfal mentioned he is not diverting sources from his incubator to make X content material without cost, both. “I perceive after I interview presidents, top ministers, it brings a large number of eyes to my channel,” he mentioned. “That is most sensible of the funnel — after which later it’s essential to and that target market may later concentrate for your monetary display, your AI display.” The ones displays have helped deliver offers to his trade, Nawfal mentioned, even though he “can not speak about numbers as it is a bit tricky, because the displays and media arm is a part of broader incubation services and products we provide.” Doable shoppers involved in taking part with Nawfal’s media platforms can choose between a spread of choices, together with visitor look, sponsorship and content material collaboration. Nawfal mentioned that they “handiest settle for sponsorships for the crypto and AI displays.” The site for Nawfal’s World Blockchain Consulting Team lists media as one in all its choices. “Harness the affect of the most important platform on X(Twitter) and different strategic belongings we’ve got bought to put ourselves as the most important entity with the widest succeed in in Web3,” the website guarantees. In past due February, Nawfal posted an interview he gave on a Polish TV station. The thumbnail of the video mentioned, in daring all caps: “Elon Musk stored the arena”.
