Musk seeks to put $100 Million directly into Trump political operation
Advertisement
And on Tuesday, as Musk's electric car company, Tesla, faced some violent protests around the globe, Trump made a display of having five Teslas brought to the White House grounds in a demonstration for the news media, and checked out the cars with Musk by his side. It was an extraordinary promotion of a company by the most powerful person in the federal government.
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
'I think he's been treated very unfairly by a very small group of people,' Trump told reporters, referring to Musk. 'And I just want people to know that he can't be penalized for being a patriot.'
Musk and White House officials didn't return a request for comment.
Associates of Musk and Trump have talked in recent days about Musk's planned donation to a Trump-controlled entity. Musk has signaled he wants to make the donations not to his own super political action committee, which is called America PAC and has spent heavily on Trump in the past, but to an outside entity affiliated with the president.
The groups that are leading Trump's outside activities include Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC, and Securing American Greatness, a political nonprofit. It is not clear if the money would go to those groups or to a new entity the Trump team could create.
Both MAGA Inc. and Securing American Greatness were founded by close allies of Trump, and have a diverse set of major donors aligned with the president.
Advertisement
Musk is still committed to his own super PAC, which has now spent $6 million to support a conservative candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election next month. He spent close to $300 million on the presidential race last cycle, almost all through America PAC, which he founded last year.
But Musk is now showing a willingness to also fund some groups he doesn't directly control. And his past giving indicates he's willing to exceed amounts that other donors might consider excessive.
At the moment, Musk may see some political upside in showing that he is a team player of sorts.
Musk has been viewed by some Trump officials, including by members of Trump's Cabinet, as pursuing his own agenda without properly consulting the rest of the Trump administration. Musk pointedly backing some of Trump's longer-standing, loyal groups, rather than solely his own, could help soothe those tensions.
The precise split of Musk's money, or if he has followed through with his plans, is not known and may never be. The political nonprofit group is not required to disclose its donors.
Trump is not eligible for reelection, yet his outside groups are continuing to rake in seven-figure contributions from major donors, presumably to reward friendly lawmakers and pressure those who oppose his agenda.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
17 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump Deploys National Guard To L.A. Amid Immigration Protests - Inside Politics with Dana Bash and Manu Raju - Podcast on CNN Audio
Trump Deploys National Guard To L.A. Amid Immigration Protests CNN Inside Politics 43 mins First: California clashes. Trump deploys the National Guard to crack down on immigration protests. As sources say the president could cut funding for the Golden State. How will this end? And: Breakup. Trump's feud with Elon Musk threatens his coalition. Can the president's agenda survive the onslaught? Congressman Mike Lawler joins us live. Plus: Election night. What will the first big primaries in Trump's second term tell us about how voters feel.
New York Post
22 minutes ago
- New York Post
Some LA migrant protests fueled by taxpayer-funded group with Dem ties — another with CCP link
One of the groups leading anti-immigration protests in Los Angeles is a taxpayer-funded activist organization with ties to the Democratic Party, while another has links to the Chinese Communist Party. The Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) — which received tens of millions of dollars in government grants during the Biden administration — staged a rally last week to denounce Immigration and Customs Enforcement arresting illegal migrants across the city, including those convicted of heinous crimes. 7 CHIRLA staged a rally last week to denounce Immigration and Customs Enforcement arresting illegal migrants across the city. REUTERS Advertisement Protests against ICE escalated since then, with more than 1,000 rioters taking to the streets, assaulting immigration officers, slashing tires and defacing public buildings, the Department of Homeland Security said, prompting President Trump to call in around 2,000 National Guard troops Sunday to quell the violence. According to financial records obtained by DataRepublican, CHIRLA received nearly $34 million in government grants, mostly from the state of California, in the fiscal year ending June 2023, a jump from the $12 million it received the previous year. 7 Protests against ICE escalated since then, with more than 1,000 rioters taking to the streets. REUTERS Advertisement The radical group also received around $450,000 in grants for 'citizenship education and training' between October 2021 and September 2024 from the DHS — the very agency the group was protesting last week. The federal agency cut ties with the group and terminated any further funding in March, including clawing back nearly $101,000 in funding that had yet to be paid out. A CHIRLA spokesman denied that the group had anything to do with the violence in a statement to The Post on Sunday. 7 CHIRLA received nearly $34 million in government grants, mostly from the state of California, in the fiscal year ending June 2023. He said CHIRLA 'organized a press event on Thursday' to protest the round-ups and had 'been sending legal observers to immigration courts and detention centers on Friday, Saturday and today as part of the LA Rapid Response Network. 'We have not participated, coordinated, or been part of the protests being registered in Los Angeles other than the press conference and rally cited above,' the rep said. Advertisement Rioting broke out in LA on Friday as federal authorities resumed the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration, conducting numerous raids in recent weeks and netting 'around 150' arrests, according to Trump's hard-nosed border czar Tom Homan. 7 The radical group also received around $450,000 in grants for 'citizenship education and training' between October 2021 and September 2024 from the DHS. REUTERS Another group that was behind some of last week's protests is the Marxist Party for Socialism and Liberation, which played a part in virulent past anti-Israel campus protests at Columbia University and which was once associated with suspected DC terrorist Elias Rodriguez. PSL has ties to the Chinese Communist Party through funding from socialist billionaire Neville Singham and his wife, Jodie Evans, founder of activist group Code Pink, according to a 2024 report by the Network Contagion Research Institute. Singham sunk millions of dollars into backing the groups after selling his software company, ThoughtWorks, for $785 million in 2017. Advertisement 7 Rioting broke out in LA on Friday as federal authorities resumed the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. AP Singham's ties to the Chinese government and Communist propaganda are well-documented. The New York Times published a lengthy 2023 expose on his far-reaching money machine, which has steered millions to China-praising nonprofits from South Africa, Ghana and Zambia to Brazil, New Delhi and beyond. The PSL did not immediately respond to a Post request for comment Sunday. Rioters gathered Friday after the recent protests to attempt to stop ICE agents from carrying out the immigration sweeps, leading to officers deploying tear gas and other less-lethal methods of crowd dispersal. 7 Another group that was behind some of last week's protests is the Marxist Party for Socialism and Liberation. REUTERS More than a dozen arrests were made Saturday, said Bill Essayli, the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, on X. Images and videos showed hundreds of protesters clashing with riot gear-clad federal agents who were attempting to apprehend illegal immigrants near a Home Depot in Paramount, Calif. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and embattled Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass decried the raids, the latter claiming the federal agents used tactics that 'sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city.' Advertisement 7 Rioters gathered Friday after the recent protests to attempt to stop ICE agents from carrying out the immigration sweeps. Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images In a statement on X on Saturday, Newsom wrote, 'Federal government is moving to take over the California National Guard and deploy 2,000 soldiers. That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions. LA authorities are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment's notice.' In a fiery response to Newsom and Bass on Truth Social Saturday, President Trump said, 'If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can't do their jobs, which everyone knows they can't, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!.'
Wall Street Journal
30 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
GOP Senators' Competing Demands Risk Pulling Trump Megabill Apart
WASHINGTON—Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) is trying to release this week a revised version of President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill.' But as he races to pass the legislation ahead of Republicans' self-imposed July 4 deadline, he has got about as many problems as there are GOP senators, with lawmakers battling over the additional borrowing and spending cuts that will be used to finance tax relief, plus spending on the border and military.
