It turns out that the massive financial support from Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, has been quietly backing groups aligned with Donald Trump during this election cycle.
This news just came to light as Musk is stepping into a significant role in the presidential transition. According to federal filings released on Thursday, he spent more than $250 million in the last few months of this year’s election to help Trump secure the presidency.
While that amount is just a small fraction of Musk’s overall wealth, it’s still an astonishing contribution from one individual, especially considering how it was funneled into various allied groups.
One particularly bold move by Musk, which only became known recently, was his $20 million investment into a super PAC named after Ruth Bader Ginsburg—the late liberal Supreme Court justice—aimed at softening Trump’s stance on abortion issues.
The majority of his donations went to America PAC, where he cut three checks for $25 million each during the race’s final weeks. Additionally, he allocated $40.5 million towards somewhat controversial payments made to voters in swing states who backed a petition supporting constitutional values.
Overall, Musk contributed an eye-popping total of $239 million in cash and other forms of support to America PAC throughout the campaign.
This organization claimed it was running an extensive ground game for Trump’s benefit. After an assassination attempt on him back in July, Musk felt strongly about defeating President Biden and shifted his focus toward supporting Trump wholeheartedly. He even campaigned actively for him in Pennsylvania—a key battleground state.
On November 12—just a week after Election Day—Musk donated another $4 million to America PAC and promised to keep it operational by targeting progressive prosecutors and backing Trump’s policies moving forward.
Since then, he has become a regular fixture at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida. He’s leading efforts aimed at reducing federal government size and has weighed in on various appointments made by the incoming administration.
Despite some mixed feelings from people around Trump—and occasionally from Trump himself—about Musk’s frequent involvement, it’s clear that his substantial financial backing and influence through social media have made him too valuable for them to overlook.
We still don’t have a clear picture of how much Mr. Musk has spent on the election, and we might never find out. This election cycle, he also made significant contributions to conservative groups lower down the ballot, including a hefty $12 million to two organizations aimed at electing Republican senators—the Senate Leadership Fund and the Sentinel Action Fund.
Initially, Mr. Musk preferred to keep his support for Mr. Trump under wraps, but it seems he may have also funneled money into dark-money groups that won’t ever reveal his connections or donations.
Recently, it came to light that Mr. Musk was behind RBG PAC—a Republican organization that backed Mr. Trump yet bore the name of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who famously opposed him.
A trust owned by Musk was the only financial backer for RBG PAC, which had not disclosed its donors until a late filing on Thursday. During the election season, this group ran ads claiming that Mr. Trump’s views on abortion were similar to those of Justice Ginsburg—a feminist icon—touting slogans like Great Minds Think Alike alongside images of both figures (Ginsburg passed away in 2020).
However, her family was outraged by this use of her name; Clara Spera, Ginsburg’s granddaughter, expressed in an October statement that they condemned using her grandmother’s legacy to support Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and particularly found it appalling to imply she would agree with his stance on abortion.
RBG PAC aimed to ease concerns among female voters who were hesitant about supporting Mr. Trump due to his anti-abortion stance—he often takes pride in appointing conservative justices who played roles in overturning Roe v. Wade.
As these ads rolled out, there were subtle hints pointing towards Musk’s involvement; for instance, May Mailman—the group’s leader—occasionally defended him on TV.
These ads were part of a larger strategy involving various pro-Trump organizations targeting specific voter demographics in what Trump’s team thought could be a tighter race than it turned out to be; ultimately he swept all seven battleground states and won the popular vote—something no Republican had done in two decades!