‘Unheard Of’: Elon Musk Reportedly Set to Give $100 Million to Trump’s Political Operation
White House adviser Elon Musk has reportedly signaled he wants to give $100 million to entities that are controlled by President Donald Trump’s political operation, according to a New York Times report published Tuesday night.
The report – from Maggie Haberman and Theodore Schleifer – came just hours after Trump and the Tesla CEO appeared outside the White House so the president could promote Tesla vehicles while announcing he was buying at least two of them. T
Musk spent nearly $300 million in the last election cycle to return Trump to the White House.
“It is unheard of for a White House staffer, even one with part-time status, to make such large political contributions to support the agenda of the boss,” the Times noted. “But there has never been someone in the direct employ of an administration like Mr. Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, who is leading Mr. Trump’s aggressive effort to shrink the federal government, the Department of Government Efficiency.”
It continued:
The groups that are leading Mr. 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 Mr. Trump, and have a diverse set of major donors aligned with the president.
Mr. 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.
Haberman phoned in to Tuesday’s AC360 on CNN to discuss.
“It absolutely helps solidify his position with Donald Trump,” she said. “The precise impetus was not clear to us, although the timing does appear to be around last week. Also notable last week, Anderson, [Musk’s] America PAC started airing a $1 million ad buy saying, ‘Thank you, President Trump.’ So, Musk has some sense of how to work with this president and what exactly he wants.”
Trump’s promotion of Tesla vehicles earlier in the day made for a surreal scene. One photographer caught Trump holding notes about the cars, complete with the cost of the vehicles and the price of the so-called “Full Self-Driving” feature.
Tesla stock has lost more than half its value since December as more and more buyers shun the brand as Musk has increasingly embraced far-right politics. The billionaire has laid off thousands of federal workers in potentially illegal personnel moves and spending cuts.
Watch above via CNN.
