Just four months ago, Elon Musk stated he would not be donating money to any presidential candidate. However, reports now suggest that he plans to contribute $45 million each month to a super political action committee supporting former President Donald Trump.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk will back America PAC, a group formed in June focused on voter registration and other get-out-the-vote activities. Musk is expected to start his donations in July, potentially contributing a total of $180 million to the PAC.
This marks a significant shift for Musk, who has been showing increasing support for the right-wing and growing closer ties to Trump. Despite Trump’s previous criticism of electric vehicles, Musk formally endorsed him on Saturday.
“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk announced on X, shortly after an assassination attempt on the former president.
Over recent months, Musk has reportedly developed a closer relationship with Trump, speaking to him several times a month about topics such as the U.S. Space Force, immigration, and policies on electric vehicles and cryptocurrency. Musk has also advised Trump on potential advisory roles should he win a second term, although he denied these reports.
Axios reports that Musk, along with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and “PayPal Mafia” member David Sachs, encouraged Trump to select J.D. Vance as his running mate. Vance, a Republican Senator from Ohio and former venture capitalist, has ties to Peter Thiel, co-founder of Palantir and PayPal.
As of June 30, America PAC has received approximately $8.75 million from donors, much of which has already been expended. Major contributors include Antonio Gracias of Valor Equity Partners, a Musk ally and early Tesla investor, who donated $1 million. Other significant donors include Doug Leone of Sequoia Capital, Joe Craft of Alliance Resource Partners, and Jimmy John Liautaud, founder of Jimmy John’s, each of whom also donated $1 million. In 2020, Liautaud contributed $212,000 to Trump’s presidential campaign.
Additional supporters include the billionaire Winklevoss twins and Shaun Maguire of Sequoia Capital. After Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in May, Maguire donated $300,000 to Trump and his affiliated groups.