Elon Musk gives $75m to pro-Trump group, putting him among the largest Republican donors

Musk’s America PAC, which is focused on turning out voters in closely battleground states, spent around $72m in three months
ReutersTue 15 Oct 2024 23.40 EDTLast modified on Wed 16 Oct 2024 01.33 EDTShareElon Musk gave around $75m to his pro-Donald Trump spending group in the span of three months, federal disclosures show, underscoring how the billionaire has become crucial to the Republican candidate’s efforts to win the US presidential election.
America PAC, which is focused on turning out voters in the closely contested states battleground states that could decide the election, spent around $72m of that in the July-September period, according to disclosures filed to the Federal Election Commission.
That is more than any other pro-Trump Super Pac focused on turning out voters. The Trump campaign is broadly reliant on outside groups for canvassing voters, meaning the Super Pac founded by Musk – the world’s richest man – plays an outsized role in the razor-thin election between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.
Trump’s courting of big donors poses major corruption dangers, experts warnRead moreMusk, the CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla, was the sole donor to the group in that period.
On Wednesday, he said in a post on X that he will be “giving a series of talks” throughout Pennsylvania, less than two weeks after his appearance with Trump in the state. Musk said people needed to sign a petition on his America PAC website to attend his talks from “tomorrow night through Monday.”
Pennsylvania is considered a crucial state for both Trump and Harris in the race for the White House.
Musk, who has said he has voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the past, has taken a sharp turn to the right this election. He endorsed Trump in July and appeared with him at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month.
Musk’s donations to America PAC propel him into the exclusive club of Republican mega donors, a list that also includes banking heir Timothy Mellon and casino billionaire Miriam Adelson.
However, it was reported earlier this month that Musk has secretly funded a conservative political group for years, well before his public embrace of Trump.
America PAC declined to comment on the Musk donations. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
America PAC is focused on encouraging Americans who like Trump but don’t always vote to cast ballots this cycle, a high-risk, labor-intensive strategy by the Trump campaign.
The group, which started its work later in the election than other Pacs, has encountered some problems with hiring and its contractors. Since July, it has fired two major contractors it has hired to knock on doors.
It has also struggled to hire door knockers in several battleground states in part because by the time the Pac became operational many other canvassing groups had already staffed up, a half-dozen sources briefed on the issues told Reuters.
The group had about $4m left on hand by the end of September, the filings show.
Separate filings earlier on Tuesday showed that Miriam Adelson, the casino magnate, donated $95m to another pro-Trump Super Pac, Preserve America PAC, in the same period.