Donald Trump, who is urgently looking for new donors to support his presidential campaign, met on Sunday in Palm Beach, Fla., with Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest people and several wealthy Republican donors, according to three people briefed on the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private discussion.
Mr. Trump and his team are working to find more major donors to shore up their finances as he heads into the expected general election against President Biden. Mr. Trump has praised Mr. Musk to his allies and hopes to have a private meeting with the billionaire soon, according to a person who discussed the matter with Mr. Trump.
It remains unclear whether Mr. Musk plans to spend any of his assets on Mr. Trump. But his recent social media posts suggest he thinks it is essential that Mr Biden is defeated in November – and people who have spoken privately to Mr Musk have confirmed that it is indeed is his opinion.
With a net worth of about $200 billion, according to Forbes, Mr. Musk may decide to put his energy behind Mr. Trump and potentially almost single-handedly erase what is considered the huge financial advantage of Mr. Biden and his colleagues. bright. than the former president.
Mr. Trump’s aides did not respond to requests for comment. Mr. Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Musk has long presented himself as an independent thinker and like many business leaders, he has donated to candidates of both parties over the years. Unlike other American billionaires, he did not spend much on presidential elections and his donations were divided quite evenly over the years between Democrats and Republicans. Mr. Musk’s businesses, Tesla and SpaceX, have benefited from federal government contracts and subsidies.
A person close to Mr. Musk said his relationship with government has historically made him wary about identifying too closely with one political party over another. In 2017, famous billionaire stepped out of two business advisory councils when Mr. Trump was still president about Mr. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
“Climate change is real,” Mr. Musk posted on Twitter in June 2017. “Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.”
The two had other moments of friction. A few months before the midterm elections, in the summer of 2022, he and former president trading insultswith Mr Trump calling him obscene and Mr Musk saying it was time for the former president to “ride into the sunset”.
At the same time, however, Mr. Musk has become increasingly open about his preference for the Republican Party.
Ahead of the midterm elections, he told his more than 100 million followers on X – the website known as Twitter until Mr Musk bought it in 2022 – that they should vote for a Republican Congress. He has criticized what he describes as the left’s “woke” agenda and has attacked Mr. Biden over the record number of migrants who have entered the United States during his presidency.
Mr. Musk’s comments on immigration have become increasingly alarming. He said that the president’s immigration policies threaten the very existence of America and have pushed American democracy to the brink. He said that the Democrats are “putting out a large number of illegals” to cheat in elections. There is no evidence to support his claims of mass voter fraud.
“America will collapse if it tries to swallow the world,” Mr. Musk posted on X on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, he posted that the Biden administration’s immigration policy is considered “treason.”
The person close to Mr. Musk, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that if he stood behind Mr. Trump, his stance on immigration would be a significant boost.
Mr. Musk has previously raised questions about Mr. Biden’s age and once repeated one of Mr. Trump’s favorite quips by claiming that the president is “still sleeping” after Mr. Biden failed to congratulate one of his companies. Mr. Musk also had a grudge against the president after the White House did not invite Tesla to attend an electric vehicle event in August 2021.
“Let’s not forget the White House’s cold treatment of Tesla, excluding us from the electric vehicle summit,” Tesla CEO posted on X in December.
Mr. Musk visited the White House in September to discuss issues surrounding artificial intelligence, according to NBC News, has obtained visitor logs. Mr. Biden and Mr. Musk did not meet during the visit.
Afterward buy Twitter in October 2022, Mr. Musk Restore Mr. Trump’s account. The former president was banned from the forum after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, a decision that Mr. Musk previously said was a mistake.
However, it is still unclear whether Mr. Musk will support Mr. Trump’s presidential bid or not. Mr. Musk said before the Republican nomination race that he leaning toward supporting Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida. Mr. DeSantis officially launched his candidacy in a live-streamed audio discussion with Mr. Musk on X last May, and there had been widespread speculation that a donation from Mr. Musk to a super PAC supporting Mr. DeSantis would follow. But that never happened.
Even if Mr. Musk ultimately does not decide to donate to a pro-Trump super PAC or spend money in other ways to help Mr. Trump, his own megaphone is still significant. Mr. Musk has 175 million followers on X and has the ability like few others in America to shape news coverage.
Kitty Bennett contributing research.
