Elon Musk Spent Millions to Get Back in Donald Trump's Good Graces
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Elon Musk made donations totaling $15 million to three super PACs supporting Donald Trump and the Republicans after his very public falling out with the president, but all before he announced his plans for the new "America Party."
Newsweek reached out to the White House and Musk via X, SpaceX, and Tesla for comment by email outside of normal business hours on Saturday morning.
Why It Matters
Musk and Trump formed a fast and mutually beneficial friendship in the runup to the 2024 presidential election, with Musk bankrolling Trump's campaign to the tune of at least $250 million and helping him secure victory against then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
Trump then positioned Musk as the point person for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), giving him free rein to look into the federal government to cut back on "waste, fraud, and abuse" and bring down spending across all departments.
However, their relationship took a turn as pressure mounted against Musk, with Tesla suffering significantly due to his role in the Trump administration, and ultimately Musk left his post to return to the private sector.
Musk, who called himself Trump's "first buddy," also publicly criticized the administration-backed "One Big Beautiful Bill," which aims to extend tax cuts, increase immigration enforcement, and end consumer incentives for electric vehicles.
Trump and Musk then started to taking shots at each other—through the press and via their respective social media platforms—culminating in a very public falling out in June.
Musk accused Trump of withholding the release of the Epstein files because he was allegedly named in them, and Trump threatened to cut Musk's contracts with the federal government.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks is seen in the Oval Office of the White House on May 30 in Washington, D.C.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks is seen in the Oval Office of the White House on May 30 in Washington, D.C.What To Know
Following their public feud, which occurred in the first week of June, Musk appeared to try and make amends with the president by donating $5 million to each of three super PACs related to Trump and the Republicans.
The Daily Mail first noted the donations in a report on Friday, but Newsweek verified through Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings that Musk donated $5 million each to MAGA Inc., the Senate Leadership Fund, and the House Leadership Fund. All three donations were made on June 27, which is about a week before he then declared he would create his own political party—the America Party.
Musk's last donations were made to the AMERICA PAC, which included a roughly $27 million donation on June 30, according to the filings. He has also donated to the reelection campaign for Republican Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Barry Moore of Alabama, although those were only a few thousand dollars each.
This was also around the time that Musk heavily criticized the "One Big Beautiful Bill," which he said was "political suicide" to pass and warned it would add trillions to the national debt.
Musk decided to create the America Party after holding a poll on X on July 4, in which he asked users: "Should we create the America Party?" as a way of creating "independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system."
The poll received 1.25 million votes, with 65.4 percent saying "Yes," which Musk greeted with enthusiasm, writing: "By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it! When it comes to bankrupting our country with waster & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy."
As a foreign-born U.S. citizen, Musk cannot run for president, but he could bankroll other candidates, which he could do with a third party. He wrote in a separate X post that if he did make a new party, he would focus on capturing two or three Senate seats and eight to 10 seats in the House of Representatives in order to have impact on legislation.
Trump criticized Musk's decision to start a third party, writing on Truth Social at the time, in part: "I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely 'off the rails,' essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks. He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States - The System seems not designed for them. The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS."
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump in his last Truth Social post to mention Elon Musk, which was on July 24, wrote: "Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elon's companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large scale subsidies he receives from the U.S. Government. This is not so! I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE, in fact, THRIVE like never before! The better they do, the better the USA does, and that's good for all of us. We are setting records every day, and I want to keep it that way!"
Elon Musk in his last X post to mention Donald Trump, which was on July 8, wrote: "How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won't release the Epstein files?"
What Happens Next?
It remains unclear if Trump and Musk have had any direct communication following their war-of-words in June.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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