Donald Trump, who is urgently seeking an infusion of cash to help his presidential campaign, met on Sunday in Palm Beach, Florida, with Elon Musk, one of the richest men in the world, and some wealthy donors Republicans, 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 other major donors to shore up his finances as he heads into an expected general election against President Biden. Mr. Trump has praised Mr. Musk to allies and hopes to have a one-on-one meeting with the billionaire soon, according to a person who has discussed the matter with Mr. Trump.
It is not yet clear whether Mr. Musk plans to spend any of his fortune on Mr. Trump’s behalf. But his recent social media posts suggest he thinks it is essential that Mr Biden is defeated in November – and people who have spoken to Mr Musk privately have confirmed that is indeed his view .
With a net worth of around $200 billion, according to Forbes, Mr. Musk could decide to support Mr. Trump and potentially, almost single-handedly, erase what is expected to be the enormous financial advantage of Mr. Biden and his allies. on the former president.
On Wednesday, following the publication of this article, Mr. Musk posted on X that he was “not giving money to either candidate for president of the United States.” He did not specify which two candidates he was referring to.
Mr. Trump’s aides did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Musk has long presented himself as independent-minded, and like many business leaders, he has donated to candidates of both parties over the years. Unlike other American billionaires, he has not spent much money on a presidential election and his donations have been split fairly evenly over the years between Democrats and Republicans. Mr. Musk’s companies, Tesla and SpaceX, have benefited from federal government contracts and grants.
A person close to Mr. Musk said his relationship with the government had historically caused him to be hesitant to identify too closely with one political party over another. In 2017, the billionaire withdrew from two business advisory boards when Mr Trump was president following Mr Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord.
“Climate change is real,” Mr. Musk said on Twitter in June 2017. “Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world. »
The two had other moments of friction. Months before the midterm elections in the summer of 2022, he and the former president traded insults, with Mr. Trump calling him an expletive and Mr. Musk saying it was time for the former president to “sailing into the sunset”.
However, at the same time, Mr. Musk was becoming more open about his preference for the Republican Party.
On the eve of the midterm elections, he told his more than 100 million followers on X — the site that was called Twitter until Mr. Musk bought it in 2022 — that they should vote For a republican congress. He has railed against what he describes as the left’s “woke” agenda and attacked Mr. Biden over the record number of migrants entering the United States during his presidency.
Mr. Musk’s comments on immigration have become increasingly alarmist. He suggested that the president’s immigration policies threaten America’s very existence and have pushed American democracy to the brink. He suggested that Democrats were “bringing in large numbers of illegals” to cheat in elections. There is no evidence to support his claims of massive voter fraud.
“America will collapse if it tries to absorb the world,” Mr. Musk said Tuesday on X. Earlier in the day, he said the Biden administration’s immigration policy amounted to a “ treason “.
The person close to Mr. Musk, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that if he supported Mr. Trump, his views on immigration would have been a significant motivating factor.
Mr Musk has previously raised questions about Mr Biden’s age and once echoed one of Mr Trump’s favorite jabs by saying the president was “I sleep again” after Mr. Biden failed to congratulate any of his businesses. Mr. Musk also held a grudge against the president after the White House failed to invite Tesla to an electric vehicle event in August 2021.
“Let’s not forget that the White House gave Tesla the cold shoulder, excluding us from the electric vehicle summit,” said Mr. Musk, Tesla’s chief executive. posted on in December.
Mr. Musk visited the White House in September to discuss issues related to artificial intelligence, according to NBC News, which obtained the visitors’ logs. Mr. Biden and Mr. Musk did not meet during the visit.
After buying Twitter in October 2022, Mr. Musk reinstated Mr. Trump’s account. The former president was barred from the podium after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, a move Mr. Musk previously suggested was a mistake.
Still, it was far from certain that Mr. Musk would support Mr. Trump’s presidential bid. Mr. Musk had indicated before the race for the Republican nomination that he was leaning toward supporting Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida. Mr. DeSantis launched his official candidacy in a livestreamed audio discussion with Mr. Musk last May 14, and there was widespread speculation that a donation from Mr. Musk to the super PAC supporting Mr. DeSantis would follow. But that was never the case.
On Monday, Mr. Musk appeared to criticize television host Bill Maher, who said in a clip posted on X that he would vote for Mr. Biden over Mr. Trump in almost any circumstance.
“Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is a very real illness,” Mr. Musk wrote in answer on X.
Even if Mr. Musk doesn’t ultimately decide to donate to a pro-Trump super PAC or otherwise spend money to help Mr. Trump, his own megaphone is substantial. Mr. Musk has 175 million followers on X and has an ability, like few others in America, to shape media coverage.
Kitty Bennett contributed to the research.