The Tesla CEO broke with the tradition of other social media platforms when he announced his support for Mr. Trump after the assassination of the former US president.
Elon Musk and Donald Trump attended the event together. Photo: Bloomberg.
A few months before the US presidential election, billionaire Elon Musk publicly supported Trump’s re-election campaign. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Tesla CEO is planning to support the campaign by pledging $45 million per month to the behind-the-scenes group tasked with motivating voters (America PAC).
I fully support former President Trump and hope he will recover quickly from the missed assassination,” Elon Musk wrote on X.
These donations will be a significant step forward not only in the presidential campaign but also in the relationship between the two billionaires.
In the past, Elon Musk has donated money to candidates of both parties, including $5,000 for former President Barack Obama in April 2011. In addition, the Tesla CEO tends to be a Democratic donor, but the amount he raises is usually not large.
In addition to financially supporting Trump’s campaign, Elon Musk, with more than 190 million followers on the X platform, is clearly one of the most influential people in the world. Therefore, his support for Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign will have an impact on the minds of many people.
However, the relationship between Elon Musk and former president Trump has not always been good. The Tesla CEO left two White House business councils in early 2017 after Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate agreement.
“Climate change has a negative impact on the Earth. Leaving the Paris climate agreement is clearly not good for the United States or the world,” the Tesla CEO said in early 2017.
In the past few years, Musk has repeatedly expressed support for Mr. Trump and opposed some of President Joe Biden’s policies.
The Tesla CEO began to support Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign. Photo: Washington Post.
Shortly after Musk acquired Twitter in the fall of 2022, he restored Trump’s account. The Tesla CEO complained that Twitter had previously improperly censored content against President Biden, although Twitter’s lawyers later disputed this conclusion.
During President Joe Biden’s tenure, Tesla benefited in part from government subsidies. In which, each electric car buyer will be granted a tax credit of up to $7,500.
However, these incentives also contribute to making competition in the electric vehicle sector more fierce. Recently, Elon Musk wrote on X that the electric vehicle subsidies passed under President Joe Biden have helped Tesla’s rivals.