Musk compares Ceuta migrant arrivals to zombie invasion, Trump warns of US border crisis

Musk's social media posts

Elon Musk used his platform X to attack Spain's handling of the Ceuta migration crisis, posting a clip from the horror film World War Z that shows zombies scaling a wall and overrunning a city. He wrote, "Wow, the situation in Spain seems crazy." Minutes later he added a real video of migrants arriving on the Ceuta coast, writing, "Just kidding, this is the real video…" He then shared footage of migrants running along the US-Mexico border wall and commented, "This was America under Biden."

In further posts Musk called the arrivals an "invasion" because, he said, all those reaching Spain were "military-age men." He also laid out a mathematical argument: "If Spain offers free benefits to migrants that exceed the standard of living of 90% of the world's population, it creates an incentive for 90% of the world's population to move to Spain, which is about 7 billion people!" He warned that "Spain's entire budget will be destroyed by illegal migrants."

“It's basic math: if Spain offers free benefits to migrants that exceed the standard of living of 90% of the world's population, it creates an incentive for 90% of the world's population to move to Spain, which is about 7 billion people!”

Trump's warning

US President Donald Trump also weighed in, telling Fox News the images from Ceuta were "terrible" and urging Americans to remember them. He framed the crisis as a preview of what could happen in the United States if Democrats regain power.

“It's terrible. Remember this image. This is how we will be in three years if the wrong side wins.”

The Ceuta crisis

On Thursday, tens of thousands of people crossed irregularly from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Preliminary estimates put the number at about 50,000, though the autonomous government later said entries reached 60,000. By Friday, at least 25,000 had returned to Morocco voluntarily. Authorities also confirmed that at least 34 people drowned while trying to reach the coast.

Irregular crossings (30 July)50,000

Voluntary returns (31 July)25,000

Deaths34

Irregular crossings (30 July)

50000 people

Voluntary returns (31 July)

25000 people

Deaths

34 people

Data from the article text

Political context

Musk's intervention came as he reactivates his America Pac political action committee, with a planned spend of $100–120 million to boost Republican turnout in the upcoming midterm elections. White House officials, including advisor Stephen Miller and communications director Steven Cheung, used the Ceuta footage to defend the Trump administration's border-control strategy and to criticize the policies of former president Joe Biden. Musk has also repeatedly attacked Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez over a plan to regularize around 500,000 irregular migrants, aligning himself with far-right figures who accuse Madrid of encouraging the flows.