Political activities of Elon Musk

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Elon Musk with then-president-elect Donald Trump on a private plane in November 2024 Trump UFC 2024 03 (cropped).jpg
Elon Musk with then-president-elect Donald Trump on a private plane in November 2024

Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla and the executive chairman of X, has engaged in numerous political activities in the United States and internationally, often supporting right-leaning or far-right candidates and parties. Notably, Musk has been moderately involved in the United States' 2024 presidential election, creating a political action committee in support of Donald Trump and pledging upwards of US$50 million to PACs aligned with his policies. Musk has also voiced support for the German far-right political party Alternative für Deutschland on social media. Musk made a virtual appearance at an AfD rally where he encouraged German citizens to "move beyond" past guilt. [1]

Contents

United States

Musk became a U.S. citizen in 2002, founding SpaceX that year using his share of the profits from PayPal's sale to eBay. From 2008 to 2013, Musk flew to Washington, D.C. forty times, according to biographer Ashlee Vance. [2] At a Vanity Fair event with Y Combinator president Sam Altman in 2015, Musk said he was "involved in politics as little as possible". [3] Prior to the 2016 United States presidential election, Musk donated to Hillary Clinton [4] and later said he voted for her. [5] In November 2016, Musk criticized Donald Trump as "not the right guy" in an interview with CNBC. The following month, Trump appointed Musk to his Strategic and Policy Forum. [6]

By January 2017, Musk had met with Trump at Trump Tower to argue for the SpaceX Mars colonization program. [7] That month, he told Gizmodo that he was among several "voices of reason" for Trump. [8] In June, he resigned from his positions on Trump's advisory councils after the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement. [9] Musk donated US$50,000 to an organization benefiting Republican members of the House of Representatives and an additional US$38,900 to a separate group ahead of the 2018 House of Representatives elections, defending his decision in order to "maintain dialogue". [10] The following year, he offered an endorsement of Andrew Yang's presidential campaign [11] and tacitly supported Kanye West's campaign in the 2020 presidential election, but said that he attempted to convince West to postpone his campaign in an interview with Maureen Dowd. [12]

Speaking to Kara Swisher in September 2020, Musk considered voting for Trump if Joe Biden was not a viable candidate, [13] though he later said he voted for Biden. [5] In May 2022, Musk stated that the Democratic Party had become the "party of division and hate" and that he would vote for Republicans, [14] later urging voters vote for Republicans in that year's midterm elections in order to counter a Democratic presidency. [15] In October 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had given over US$50 million to Citizens for Sanity, a political organization that targeted Democrats on issues such as medical care for transgender children and illegal immigration. [16] He publicly endorsed Ron DeSantis in his presidential campaign the following year, hosting DeSantis in a Twitter Spaces event that was marred by technical issues. [17] In August 2023, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy suggested that Musk should serve as a presidential advisor for his presidential bid. [18]

According to The Washington Post , Musk expressed support for Trump at an event hosted by businessman Nelson Peltz. [19] In March 2024, The New York Times reported that he had met Trump at Mar-a-Lago; Musk believed that Biden should be defeated in the 2024 presidential election at the time. [20] Approximately thirty minutes after a would-be assassin shot and wounded Trump at a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, Musk endorsed Trump. He congratulated Trump's decision to name senator JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate. [21]

Musk attended Trump's inauguration in the United States Capitol rotunda with his son X Æ A-Xii, seated in close proximity to Trump. [22] After the inauguration, he spoke at Trump's inaugural rally at Capital One Arena. During his speech, Musk clasped his right hand against his chest and raised out his arm above his head with his palm facing down, and turned around to perform the gesture to the audience behind him before saying, "My heart goes out to you." The gesture led to a controversy over whether or not he was giving a Nazi salute. [23]

Political action committees

In June 2024, The New York Times revealed that a super PAC known as America PAC had spent at least US$6.6 million since the May 2024 to support Trump in the 2024 election. A website had been established collecting voters's information and encouraging them to vote. [24] The Wall Street Journal reported in July that Musk said he would commit a monthly donation of US$45 million to the super PAC; after the Journal published its article, Musk disputed its accuracy. [25]

In October, a political action committee known as RBG PAC, in reference to the deceased Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, spent at least US$20 million on advertisements associating Trump with Ginsburg and her pro-abortion stance, according to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing. [26] Clara Spera, Ginsburg's granddaughter, criticized the group in a statement; Ginsburg denounced Trump in an interview with The New York Times in 2016 and did not want to be replaced on the Court until Trump was out of office. [27] An FEC filing in December revealed that Musk was RBG PAC's only donor. [28]

Department of Government Efficiency

In August 2024, Musk held a discussion on X Spaces with Trump in which he suggested a "government efficiency commission" that he would serve on to ensure taxes were spent appropriately, an idea that Trump supported. [29] The following month, The Washington Post reported that Trump had discussed the concept of a commission, led by business executives, to regulate government spending. [30] At a speech before the Economic Club of New York that month, Trump publicly called for a commission to audit the federal government that would be led by Musk. [31] After his victory in the 2024 election in November, Trump announced that he would establish the Department of Government Efficiency and appoint Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead it. [32] Prior to its formation, ideological differences between the men led to Ramaswamy, who will enter the 2026 Ohio gubernatorial election, exiting the initiative. [33]

In the days leading up to Trump's inauguration, representatives from the Department of Government Efficiency were sent to several federal agencies. [34] By the inauguration, Musk had received a government email address and was prepared to begin working in the West Wing, according to The New York Times ; prior reporting had indicated Musk would operate the Department of Government Efficiency from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, but he had objected to an apparent lessened level of access with Trump. [35] In an executive order Trump signed after his inauguration, the United States Digital Service was renamed to the United States DOGE Service and a temporary organization was established beneath the DOGE Service. Each federal agency will be assigned a "DOGE team" of special government employees, a classification of temporary workers. [36]

Argentina

Following the 2023 Argentine general election, Musk congratulated Javier Milei for his victory, writing that "prosperity is ahead for Argentina". [37] Prior to his inauguration, Musk met with Milei; in a televised interview, Milei said that Musk was "extremely interested in lithium". [38] In February 2024, Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones authorized Starlink, among other satellite internet providers, to operate in the country. [39] Milei has sought to encourage lithium investment in Argentina, [40] including a law that would give foreign investors in the mining industry tax cuts and various benefits for thirty years. [41] In April, Milei and Musk met at a Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, in which they agreed to hold a "big event" in Argentina to promote freedom; [42] The Wall Street Journal noted that the meeting followed praise that Musk offered for Milei, including for his speech at the World Economic Forum, as he sought to strengthen relations to gain access to Argentina's lithium resources and the country's approval for Starlink. [43] According to then-ambassador to the United States Gerardo Werthein, Milei and Musk discussed lithium during the meeting. [44] In May, Musk posted, "I recommend investing in Argentina" on X, after meeting with Milei in Los Angeles for an investors conference. [45]

China and Taiwan

Musk's companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, have faced stiff competition in China, where Musk has sought to develop his ventures. [46]

The Taiwanese government began discussing the use of Starlink in the country in 2019, but discussions later faltered after SpaceX representatives pressured government officials to change a majority ownership law requiring telecommunications ventures to be owned by a local business. According to Bloomberg News, Musk sought to own the entire venture. [47] In response to the instability of Starlink in the Russo-Ukrainian War, Taiwan began to develop its own communications network without SpaceX. Then-president Tsai Ing-wen pledged NT$ 40 billion for an Internet network managed by the Taiwanese government, later partnering with the Luxembourgish network company SES. In November 2023, Chunghwa Telecom announced a partnership with the French satellite operator Eutelsat. [48] In September, Musk compared Taiwan to Hawaii, claiming that the island is an "integral part" of China; Joseph Wu, Taiwan's then-foreign minister, said that Taiwan was "certainly not for sale". [49]

Germany

Endorsement of Alternative für Deutschland

Musk has prominently endorsed far-right German political party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), in particular through activities on X. While initial endorsements of party-adjacent social media accounts started as early as late 2023, Musk started actively and openly promoting the party in late 2024 during the prelude of the 2025 German federal elections throughout various activities. [50] [51]

Promotion on X

In December 2024, Musk responded to a tweet by German far-right influencer Naomi Seibt with "Only the AfD can save Germany". This is considered the first direct endorsement by him of the party. [52] He reiterated his endorsement shortly after, adding the claim that other political parties have "utterly failed the people". [53]

In January 2025, Musk agreed to a livestream with Alice Weidel, the leader of AfD and expected chancellor candidate of the party at the time. In it, Weidel proposed the thesis that Adolf Hitler was actually a communist, and not right-wing, which Musk did not contradict during the livestream. The claim has been heavily criticized. [54] The stream itself has been observed by European authorities and led to investigations about whether Musk's promotion of the party is a violation of the Digital Services Act regarding whether X's ranking algorithms unlawfully prefer AfD-adjacent content. [53] In addition, German non-governmental organization LobbyControl criticized that the stream could be interpreted an illegal party donation by German law, as usually platforms such as X would ask for considerable payment for a reach as received through the stream. [55]

Previous to his official endorsement, there have been several other incidences of Musk interacting with users on X specifically promoting AfD since at least late 2023, including high-ranking party members. [50] Notably, in April 2024, chair of local AfD Thuringia, Björn Höcke, was facing trial for using slogans historically in use by Nazi Germany's Sturmabteilung, which is punishable by law in Germany. A post by him on X about the situation was commented on by Musk, asking what exactly he said that he is currently facing trial for and why his actions are illegal, to which Höcke responded by defending his use of the slogans. [56] The conversation thread received a high degree of engagement on the platform, with over 1,000 responses to Höcke's original tweet. Observers noted that Musk's engagement considerably increased Höcke's visibility on the platform. It was also noted that it was very unusual for Höcke to be tweeting in English instead of German, as well as it being unlikely that Musk would have noticed Höcke's tweets organically. [57] A few weeks later after the incident, as a response to a tweet about the European Parliament elections in 2024, Musk voiced doubts about the classification of AfD as a far-right political party, stating the policies he's heard about "don't sound extremist". [58]

It has been observed by Bundesdatenschau, a project that analyzes political influence of German political parties on X, that AfD as well as associated accounts by party leaders such as Alice Weidel have considerably gained in reach on the platform since Musk's endorsements in 2025 compared to 2024. [59]

Other promotional activities

Later that month, he authored an op-ed in Welt am Sonntag , arguing that "traditional parties have failed". In response, Eva Marie Kogel, the paper's head of opinion, resigned. [60] Musk later spoke at a rally for AfD that month. [61]

Reactions

In Der Spiegel , deputy chancellor Robert Habeck accused Musk of mounting a "frontal attack on our democracy". [62] Christiane Hoffmann, a deputy government spokeswoman, accused Musk of attempting to influence the federal election. [63] In his New Year's Eve address, chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the election will "not be decided by the owners of social media channels". [64]

Israel

In September 2023, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Musk at a Tesla factory in Fremont, California. [65] In November, Musk and Netanyahu toured Kfar Aza, a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas during the October 7 attacks. [66] Netanyahu invited Musk to attend his address to the United States Congress in July 2024. [67] In December, president Isaac Herzog called Musk to discuss a resolution to the Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis. [68]

Iran

In November 2024, The New York Times reported that Musk had met Amir Saeid Iravani in New York to discuss Iran–United States relations. [69] In January 2025, Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was released from an Iranian prison, followed by Iranian engineer Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, who was detained on behalf of the United States Department of Justice for allegedly producing drone technology used in the Tower 22 drone attack, from an Italian prison. According to The New York Times, Musk contacted Iravani to seek Sala's release. [70] Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni denied Musk's involvement in her release, citing a "diplomatic triangulation" between U.S., Italy, and Iran. [71]

Russia and Ukraine

In February 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian minister Mykhailo Fedorov requested Musk activate Starlink in the country. Additional Starlink terminals arrived two days later. [72] In September, Musk refused to activate a geofence in Crimea, resulting in several boats being damaged. [73] By October, Musk publicly questioned the sustainability of financing Starlink in Ukraine, but said he could continue funding access. [74] That month, Musk posted a poll on Twitter outlining a peace plan that included the secession of Ukrainian territory to Russia; in response, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky posted his own poll criticizing him. [75] In February 2023, Musk stated that SpaceX would prohibit Starlink's use in long-range drone strikes. [76] According to Fedorov, Musk provided his private messages to Walter Isaacson for Elon Musk . [77]

In October 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had maintained regular contact with Russian president Vladimir Putin for at least two years. In one discussion, Putin asked Musk not to activate Starlink over Taiwan as a favor to Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. [78] The following month, U.S. senators Jack Reed and Jeanne Shaheen of the Senate Committee on Armed Services sent a letter to U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland and Robert Storch, the inspector general of the Department of Defense, requesting that they reassess Musk's security clearance. [79]

United Kingdom

Reform UK

In December 2024, the leader of the right-wing populist party Reform UK, Nigel Farage, stated that the party was discussing a donation from Musk after they met at Mar-a-Lago with party treasurer Nick Candy. [80] The negotiations were denounced by Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, who stated that the donation would be "counterproductive". [81] In an interview with The Telegraph that month, Farage argued that Musk could court the youth vote for the party and assist in defeating the Conservative Party. [82] In January 2025, Musk expressed support for Tommy Robinson, a far-right activist who was sentenced to over a year in prison on contempt of court charges. In response, several politicians who supported Brexit urged allies of president-elect Donald Trump to not endorse Robinson. [83] Musk later abruptly disparaged Farage as the leader of the Reform Party as not having "what it takes" after Farage disavowed Robinson. [84]

U.K. child sexual abuse scandals

In January 2025, Musk began commenting on several child abuse scandals in the UK, including the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal, in which many young girls were exploited by predominantly British Pakistani men. [85] Musk said that Jess Phillips, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, "deserves to be in prison", when she denied requests for a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham (Greater Manchester). [86] He claimed that Phillips was a "rape genocide apologist" by rejecting calls for a national investigation. [86] In addition, Musk castigated Starmer, who served as the director of public prosecutions when the abuses were publicized, though he had published guidelines about handling the sexual exploitation of children. [87] During an event for the National Health Service, Starmer indirectly denounced Musk for "lies and misinformation". [88]

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References

Citations

  1. ↑ Farr, Emma-Victoria (January 25, 2025). "Elon Musk appears on video at German far right campaign event". Reuters.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ Jordan, Mary (October 22, 2022). "As Elon Musk expands his reach, Washington worries". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Elon Musk and Y Combinator President on Thinking for the Future". Vanity Fair . October 8, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  4. ↑ Ferenstein, Gregory (May 31, 2016). "Tech billionaires like Democrats more than Republicans. Here's why". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on April 5, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  5. 1 2 Ingram, David (August 30, 2024). "Elon Musk says voting by mail is 'insane' — but he has done it himself, records show". NBC News . Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  6. ↑ Romm, Tony (December 14, 2016). "Trump adds Elon Musk, Uber and PepsiCo CEOs to economic advisory". Politico . Archived from the original on December 31, 2024. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  7. ↑ Achenbach, Joel (January 19, 2017). "Will Trump echo JFK's moonshot and vow to send humans to Mars?". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on February 13, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  8. ↑ Lee, David (January 26, 2017). "Elon Musk: I'm Trump's voice of reason". BBC News. Archived from the original on August 27, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  9. ↑ Breland, Ali (June 1, 2017). "Trump Paris fallout: Elon Musk steps down from WH councils". The Hill . Archived from the original on December 31, 2024. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  10. ↑ Eckhouse, Brian; Brody, Ben (July 15, 2018). "Elon Musk Just Gave Almost $40,000 to a Republican-Allied Group". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  11. ↑ Jose Valero, Maria (August 10, 2019). "Elon Musk Says He Supports 2020 White House Hopeful Andrew Yang". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  12. ↑ Dowd, Maureen (July 25, 2020). "Elon Musk, Blasting Off in Domestic Bliss". The New York Times . Archived from the original on December 31, 2024. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  13. ↑ Swisher, Kara (September 28, 2020). "Elon Musk: 'A.I. Doesn't Need to Hate Us to Destroy Us'". The New York Times . Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  14. ↑ McHale, Patrick; Parker, Mario (May 18, 2022). "Musk Says He's Given Up on Democrats, Will Vote For Republicans". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  15. ↑ Oremus, Will; Hassan, Jennifer; Siddiqui, Faiz (November 7, 2022). "Musk recommends voting GOP, bans Twitter accounts for 'impersonation'". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  16. ↑ Mattioli, Dana; Palazzolo, Joe; Safdar, Khadeeja (October 2, 2024). "Elon Musk Gave Tens of Millions to Republican Causes Far Earlier Than Previously Known". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on October 2, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  17. ↑ Mac, Ryan (May 24, 2023). "Elon Musk's Event With Ron DeSantis Exposes Twitter's Weaknesses". The New York Times . Archived from the original on May 25, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  18. ↑ Zhang, Andrew (August 26, 2023). "Ramaswamy suggests Elon Musk as a potential presidential adviser". Politico . Archived from the original on January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  19. ↑ Dawsey, Josh; Dou, Eva; Siddiqui, Faiz (July 29, 2024). "How Elon Musk came to endorse Donald Trump". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on September 19, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  20. ↑ Haberman, Maggie; Swan, Jonathan; Mac, Ryan (March 5, 2024). "Donald Trump, Seeking Cash Infusion, Meets With Elon Musk". The New York Times . Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  21. ↑ Conger, Kate; Mac, Ryan (July 16, 2024). "Elon Musk Enters Uncharted Territory With Trump Endorsement". The New York Times . Archived from the original on January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  22. ↑ Birnbaum, Michael; Zakrzewski, Cat (January 20, 2025). "Under the Rotunda, a historic concentration of wealth salutes Trump". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  23. ↑ Verma, Pranshu; Silverman, Ellie; Pietsch, Bryan (January 21, 2025). "Elon Musk's inauguration salute stokes debate in Congress, Europe". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  24. ↑ Schleifer, Theodore (June 26, 2024). "New Pro-Trump Super PAC Quietly Spends Millions on G.O.P. Ground Game". The New York Times . Archived from the original on January 9, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  25. ↑ Mattioli, Dana; Glazer, Emily; Safdar, Khadeeja (July 16, 2024). "Elon Musk Has Said He Is Committing Around $45 Million a Month to a New Pro-Trump Super PAC". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  26. ↑ Svitek, Patrick (October 25, 2024). "Mysterious group spends $20M for Trump in final election stretch". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on October 26, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  27. ↑ Goldmacher, Shane; Schleifer, Theodore; Haberman, Maggie; Kantor, Jodi (October 25, 2024). "New 'RBG PAC' Spending $19 Million From Secret Donors to Aid Trump on Abortion". The New York Times . Archived from the original on November 24, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  28. ↑ Thadani, Trisha; Ence Morse, Clara (December 6, 2024). "Elon Musk gave $20M to mysterious group defending Trump's abortion stance". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on December 6, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  29. ↑ "Donald Trump's live chat with Elon Musk on X plagued with glitches Musk claims were from cyberattack". CBS News. August 13, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  30. ↑ Stein, Jeff; Thadani, Trisha (September 2, 2024). "Trump eyes plan that may give Elon Musk role in auditing U.S. agencies". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on September 12, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  31. ↑ Gold, Michael; Rappeport, Alan (September 5, 2024). "Trump Calls for an Efficiency Commission, an Idea Pushed by Elon Musk". The New York Times . Archived from the original on December 8, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  32. ↑ Shear, Michael; Lipton, Eric (December 11, 2024). "Trump Taps Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to Slash Government". The New York Times . Archived from the original on December 12, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  33. ↑ Siddiqui, Faiz; Dwoskin, Elizabeth; Stein, Jeff (January 21, 2025). "Disagreements with Elon Musk prompted Ramaswamy's 'DOGE' exit". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  34. ↑ Siddiqui, Faiz; Stein, Jeff; Dwoskin, Elizabeth (January 21, 2025). "DOGE is dispatching agents across U.S. government". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  35. ↑ Haberman, Maggie; Swan, Jonathan; Savage, Charlie; Schleifer, Theodore (January 20, 2025). "Musk Is Likely to Get a West Wing Office for His Cost-Cutting Project". The New York Times . Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  36. ↑ Ngo, Madeleine; Schleifer, Theodore (January 21, 2025). "How Trump's Department of Government Efficiency Will Work". The New York Times . Retrieved January 23, 2025.
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