The Elon Musk effect: How Donald Trump gained from billionaire’s support

When Donald Trump declared his “magnificent victory” arsenic the results of the United States statesmanlike predetermination trickled in, helium reserved peculiar praise for 1 antheral who has helped to catapult him backmost into the nation’s apical job.

“A prima is born, Elon,” helium said successful a code successful West Palm Beach, Florida, referring to his top state successful the contention to go president: the billionaire proprietor of Tesla, SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk.

Musk has so played an outsized relation successful Trump’s comeback, not lone pumping millions of dollars into Trump’s run but besides serving arsenic a argumentation advisor and promoter, efficaciously turning his X societal media level into a Make America Great Again (MAGA) mouthpiece.

“The aboriginal is gonna beryllium fantastic,” Musk posted connected X arsenic it became evident that Trump would beryllium returning to the White House.

The aboriginal is gonna beryllium fantastic pic.twitter.com/I46tFsHxs3

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2024

The billionaire’s prima could so emergence precocious nether Trump, who antecedently suggested his state could go “secretary of cost-cutting” successful his cabinet. Experts person warned that Musk, whose Space X already wields clout arsenic a large authorities defence contractor, could extremity up “regulating the regulators”.

As the particulate settles, here’s everything you request to cognize astir however the world’s richest antheral helped technologist 1 of the wildest governmental comebacks successful history. How did Musk leverage his wealth and power to get Trump backmost connected top, and why?

How overmuch did Musk donate to Trump’s campaign?

To beryllium clear, billionaires played a bigger relation than ever successful some the Democratic and Republican statesmanlike campaigns. Bill Gates of Microsoft and erstwhile New York politician Michael Bloomberg some backed Vice President Kamala Harris. But it was Musk’s multi-faceted enactment of Trump that truly made the difference.

Musk donated an estimated $132m to Trump and different Republicans successful the run-up to the 2024 election, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) past period successful its last disclosures earlier predetermination day.

Two of the biggest donations – $43.6m and $75m – went straight into the Trump run machine, notably the America PAC (political enactment committee) established by Musk himself.

Controversially, Musk launched a currency giveaway successful cardinal plaything states, offering registered voters who agreed to motion a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments of the US Constitution, which respectively support state of code and the close to support and carnivore arms, the accidental to triumph $1m a day.

“We are going to beryllium awarding $1m randomly to radical who person signed the petition, each day, from present until the election,” Musk said astatine a run lawsuit connected October 19.

The determination was challenged successful a Pennsylvania tribunal aft the US Justice Department warned the radical could beryllium breaking predetermination laws, which forbid paying radical to registry to vote. However, judges ruled connected Monday that the cognition could spell up aft Musk’s lawyers argued that the winners were vetted spokespeople and not randomly chosen.

Now Musk is being sued successful a people enactment suit by voters who assertion helium convinced them to motion the petition nether mendacious pretences that they had a accidental of winning the $1m. The suit was filed connected Tuesday by Arizona nonmigratory Jacqueline McAferty, who besides accused Musk of utilizing the giveaway to cod invaluable idiosyncratic information and thrust postulation to X.

FEC filings besides showed Musk gave $10m to the Senate Leadership Fund, a PAC with a remit to “protect and grow the Republican Senate Majority”, perchance helping Republicans successfully wrest backmost power of the Senate successful this election.

Musk has allegedly made different unreported donations to Republicans arsenic well.

How was X deployed arsenic a MAGA mouthpiece?

Strange though it whitethorn present seem, Elon Musk was erstwhile perceived arsenic a wide and a champion of renewable vigor who claimed to person voted for Democrat Joe Biden successful 2020. This representation has changed since 2022, pursuing his takeover of the societal media level Twitter, present rebranded arsenic X.

After pledging to crook Twitter into a “politically neutral” forum, Musk laid disconnected employees liable for monitoring disinformation. He besides restored much than 62,000 suspended accounts, including achromatic nationalist and neo-Nazi accounts accused of spreading hatred code and conspiracy theories.

Crucially, helium besides reversed the prohibition connected Trump’s account, which the level unopen down aft the onslaught connected the US Capitol successful January 2021, which galore assertion Trump encouraged.

By the clip the predetermination rolled around, critics said X had efficaciously go an unofficial location level for the MAGA helping of the Republican Party. The proprietor himself was accused of “fanboying” Trump and spreading misinformation among his 200 cardinal followers, his power amplified by X’s algorithm.

One illustration was the promotion of a doctored video of Democratic statesmanlike campaigner Kamala Harris, which carried a fake voiceover saying: “I was selected due to the fact that I americium the eventual diverseness hire.” Musk reposted the video successful July with the words, “this is amazing” and a laughing emoji, garnering 136 cardinal much views for an point which was not flagged arsenic a parody.

Misinformation astir “illegal aliens” voting successful the predetermination circulated connected X arsenic well. This, contempt studies from some blimpish and left-leaning organisations showing that the incidence of the offence, carrying penalties of up to a twelvemonth successful prison, a good and imaginable deportation, was negligible.

A conspiracy mentation that Democrats were importing amerciable immigrants and granting them an amnesty to broaden their elector basal successful aboriginal elections was besides allowed to circulate connected X and amplified by Musk himself. “Dem. America would past go a one-party, heavy bluish socialist state,” helium said successful a station successful October.

The Dems person imported monolithic numbers of illegals to plaything states. Triple digit increases implicit the past 4 years!

Their STATED program is to springiness them citizenship arsenic soon arsenic possible, turning each plaything states Dem.

America would past go a one-party, heavy bluish socialist state. https://t.co/zxVmmR0GqO

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 25, 2024

Following Trump’s televised statement against Harris successful September, successful which helium repeated the mendacious assertion that Haitian immigrants successful an Ohio municipality were eating cats and dogs, Musk reposted a meme of a feline holding a motion saying “Kamala hates me” with a laughing emoji.

Despite his avowed committedness to escaped speech, Musk has suppressed immoderate quality stories, specified arsenic an nonfiction by writer Ken Klippenstein, which elaborate Republican vice statesmanlike campaigner JD Vance’s anemic spots, reportedly obtained from leaked documents. While the journalist’s relationship was aboriginal reinstated, links to the nonfiction were blocked.

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center successful March this twelvemonth confirmed the increasing popularity of the level among Republican supporters, showing that 53 percent thought it was “good for democracy”, astir triple the 17 percent who answered the aforesaid mode successful 2021.

Why has Musk allied himself with Trump?

A almighty merger of their fanbases supercharged the confederation betwixt Trump and Musk.

Not truthful agelong ago, determination was nary emotion mislaid betwixt the pair. In 2022, Trump called Musk a “bulls**t artist” for allegedly lying astir supporting him successful the 2016 election. Musk responded connected then-Twitter, saying it was “time for Trump to bent up his chapeau & sail into the sunset”.

Fast guardant 2 years and the tech tycoon was side-by-side with Trump astatine a rally successful Butler, Pennsylvania, wearing a achromatic MAGA hat.

Elon Musk, pictured astatine a rally successful Butler, Pennsylvania, has go 1 of Trump’s astir important supporters [File: Evan Vucci/AP Photo]

Musk’s lurch to the close is sometimes attributed to the government-imposed closure of his Tesla plants during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, helium reopened a mill successful Fremont, California, declaring that helium was acceptable to beryllium arrested, taking a basal against the “bureaucratic blob”.

His rightward displacement has since go manifest successful his relationships with anti-regulation leaders specified arsenic Argentinian President Javier Milei. Musk has besides go adjacent to planetary right-wing leaders specified arsenic Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, India’s Narendra Modi and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.

However, a assortment of American media outlets, specified arsenic Vanity Fair and the Washington Post, person pointed to a deeper motivation, sparked by 1 of his children’s determination to travel retired as transgender successful 2022, cutting ties with Musk and changing their surname to Wilson. Claiming successful an interrogation with Jordan Peterson that helium had been “tricked” into signing disconnected connected their aesculapian treatment, Musk announced his crusade against the “woke caput virus”.

In 2021, Musk shifted Tesla’s office from Palo Alto, California, successful Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas, likewise changing his residence from California to Texas. In July this year, Musk said helium would move SpaceX and X from California to Texas implicit a instrumentality that bans schools from forcing teachers to notify parents erstwhile their kid changes their sex identity.

How has Musk helped Trump scope young men?

Observers accidental Musk and Trump, who some contiguous themselves arsenic rule-breaking, non-mainstream “alpha males”, look to person tapped into a wide consciousness of antheral vexation successful America, partially derived from the #MeToo question and the feminist backlash against “toxic masculinity“, which has near immoderate men saying they consciousness stigmatised and marginalised.

Writing successful the New York Times past month, John Della Volpe, manager of polling astatine the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, called Trump’s play for the young antheral ballot a “master people successful bro whispering”. Angling for the “bro vote” appears to person paid off, with a caller Harvard Youth Poll revealing that 35 percent of men betwixt 18 and 24 years aged who were questioned voiced enactment for Trump, up 5 percent from a 2020 survey.

It is simply a sensibility that has recovered look successful alleged “bro” podcasts specified arsenic the Joe Rogan Experience. Rogan endorsed Trump connected Monday aft interviewing Musk. “The large and almighty @elonmusk. If it wasn’t for him, we’d beryllium f**ked. He makes what I deliberation is the astir compelling lawsuit for Trump you’ll hear, and I hold with him each measurement of the way,” said Rogan connected X.

The connection intelligibly resonated.

Two days later, Trump was elected 47th president of the United States.