“In the previous American elections, Elon Musk voted for Democrats Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. Why is he now giving millions of dollars to Republican Donald Trump’s campaign?”, — write: www.epravda.com.ua
The 2024 elections in the USA are special in that one of the richest businessmen in the world, Elon Musk, joined the campaign for one of the candidates, almost for the first time.
A few years ago, the political preferences of the founder of Tesla and SpaceX were unknown, but now Musk is increasingly sympathetic to Trump’s worldview and conspiracy theories. True, according to these ideological beliefs stand mercantile interests. Having fallen out with the Biden administration, the businessman goes all-in to win space contracts and improve Tesla’s position.
At first glance, Musk and Trump have nothing in common. The first calls the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions the main argument in business, the second questions climate change. Musk wants all cars to have electric motors, and Trump calls electric cars an economic disaster for the United States.
Despite this, they agreed: Musk is financing Trump’s campaign and even took part in a pre-election rally in one of the decisive states – Pennsylvania.
How did the richest businessman in the USA go from a critic to Trump’s “best friend”? How Musk turned Twitter into a huge propaganda machine? How does he want to use a potential Trump victory for Tesla’s benefit?
Mask transformationThe political views of Tesla’s founder were unclear for a long time: he called himself either a libertarian or a socialist. Mask toldthat in the last three US presidential elections he voted for the Democratic candidates: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. At the same time, he followed the standard customs of American billionaires, donating money to both parties.
However, in the last few years, the billionaire has become more vocal about his political preferences. His donations shifted toward Republican support, and after acquiring Twitter and renaming it X Musk pond a supporter of right-wing nationalist ideas and racist conspiracy theories.
Although he voted for Biden in the 2020 election, over the next four years, Musk’s relationship with his administration worsened.
A few months after the election, the White House invited major American automakers Ford, Stellantis and General Motors to a meeting to discuss union rights. Tesla was not among the invitees, as Musk strongly opposes unions, and his companies are often criticized for violating employee rights. The billionaire took it as an insult and a bet on the old manufacturers.
From a laughingstock to a giant in 20 years: how BYD conquers the global electric car market
During the lockdown due to the pandemic, the CEO of Tesla spoke against preventive quarantine measures and closing factories. In addition, he did not like Biden’s social initiatives.
Next, Musk’s business encountered a number of problems: Tesla electric cars more than once recalled due to regulatory concerns about driver safety, US Department of Justice is investigating the company’s alleged fraud in selling “fully autonomous” cars, and the Securities and Exchange Commission is studying the circumstances of buying Twitter in 2022.
Musk’s criticism of Biden only grew. It got to the point where the billionaire began mocking the president, calling him “sleepy Joe,” as Trump does.
The White House has its position on Tesla explained that the company received too many tax breaks and was against creating a level playing field for the market. Although behind closed doors, Musk is in the presidential administration called “asshole”.
Interestingly, on the eve of the presidential election in 2016, Musk called Trump “the wrong guy.” After the Republican became president, the latter tried to sway the billionaire to his side, calling him a “genius.”
However, according to WP sources, Donald’s first term disappointed Musk. He even resigned from two presidential advisory councils in protest of the US decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. “Climate change is real. Leaving the agreement is bad for America and the world,” Musk wrote at the time.
How did he become a Trump supporter? Interlocutors WPwho have communicated with the billionaire for many years, say that he sees Trump as an agent of change, even if he sometimes disagrees with his approaches and policies.
The businessman supported the bet on the odious JD Vance as a vice presidential candidate, and his donations ($45 million per month) went to America PAC, which focused on voter registration in swing states.
How about you, Twitter? What Elon Musk is doing with the social network
Musk and Trump’s political friendship began in March 2024 in Florida, when the Republican was looking for funds for his campaign. Around the same time, the businessman told his entourage that he wanted to support Trump financially. Over time, he began openly criticizing Biden and Kamala Harris at X.
After two failed attempts on Trump Musk publicly supported his candidacy. “No one is even trying to kill Biden/Kamala,” Musk wrote on X, but later deleted the post, calling it a joke.
However, during an interview with the odious journalist Tucker Carlson Musk “just kidding” yes the second time: “No one even tried to kill Kamala because it’s ridiculous. What are you going to achieve? Nothing, just find another puppet. Nobody is trying to kill Joe Biden.”
In October, Musk took part in Trump’s campaign rally in Balter (Pennsylvania), where the presidential candidate was assassinated in July. “The true test of someone’s character is how they handle themselves under fire. We’ve had one president who couldn’t climb stairs and another who punched after being wounded! Fight, fight, fight!” – emotionally exclaimedbouncing, Musk.
Business interestAnalysts and investors considerthat if Trump is elected, his administration could loosen federal inspections of Tesla and the X, as well as stop regulators’ investigations into accusations in harassment at SpaceX.
Over the next decade, the US Air Force Space Command plans to allocate an additional $12 billion. to satellites from different manufacturers. This number may increase, because Republicans are calling for increased investment in satellites and acceleration of space exploration up to the colonization of Mars.
During a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump promisedthat the US will definitely fly to Mars by the end of his second term. Mask announced unmanned mission to the Red Planet in two years, and with the participation of astronauts – in four to six years.
“We will never reach Mars if Kamala wins” – convincing a billionaire who in 2017 assured that he would send an expedition to Mars in 2024.
“In the Biden administration, Musk was at best a secondary figure, and under Trump, if he wins, Musk will be in the center of attention,” – admits Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives.
Turning X into a pro-Trump machineSince acquiring Twitter, Musk has increasingly used the platform to support Trump. First a billionaire unlocked the former president’s account, then promoted racist conspiracy theories about the Biden administration’s immigration policies and warned of the country’s “imminent doom” if Harris was elected.
Later, Musk began campaigning for Trump, having transformed X on a personal political machine. At the same time, the businessman did not shy away from fakes. In particular, he unreasonably raised questions about the security of voting machines and falsely claimed that illegal immigrants could vote in elections.
According to the Center for Combating Digital Hate, such statements by Musk about the election were viewed by users over 1.2 billion times.
In addition, many of the changes made by Musk to the work of X contributed to shift of the platform towards the right, including the restoration of profiles of racists and supporters of conspiracy theories. The businessman also made it easier for politicians to get exceptions to the platform’s rules that limit or remove content.
Why does Elon Musk have Twitter and how will he change the social network after buying it
X has twice flagged as spam and blocked the account of a group that raised funds and supported the Harris campaign, contradicting Musk’s claims about the platform’s commitment to “free speech.” The Grok Mask chatbot, which users access through X, criticize for providing false information. The bot claims that Harris is allegedly ineligible to participate in the election.
Musk sincerely supports not only Trump, but also other right-wing leaders in the world, especially in countries interacting with SpaceX and Tesla. The billionaire is a fan of the president of Argentina Javier Miley and gave him a tour of the Tesla factory in Texas. This is not surprising: Argentina has one of the world’s largest reserves of lithium, which is necessary for the production of electric cars. Musk also established friendly relations with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and ex-president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro.
Make Tesla Great AgainTrump’s second term as president, who is constantly talking to oil company executives and denying the climate crisis, would on the face of it be bad for companies trying to wean the U.S. off fossil fuels. However, Mask now bothers more not the transition to an all-electric future, but the preservation of Tesla’s leading position in the electric car market.
The Inflation Reduction Act from the Biden administration, which provides hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in clean energy sources, prompted GM and Ford to make a serious bet on electric cars. As market competition intensified, Tesla began to lower prices. This is how the price war began, in which Musk’s company loses in the confrontation with cheaper ones Chinese electric cars.
Tesla’s earnings over the past year fell down by 45%, and the company’s market share decreased. In the second quarter of 2024, total sales of electric vehicles in the US increased, but Tesla’s share fell below 50% for the first time in the company’s history.
To stop the decline, Musk began to do what he does best: announce fantastic innovations. After ten years of plans for the robotaxi, the billionaire promised to present it by August, but the presentation transferred for October
In addition, Musk assured that Tesla is moving forward with the Optimus humanoid robot project. All this partially worked: the company’s shares began to rise again. However, Tesla still suffers from competition in the electric car market.
The failure of Bezos: how the founder of Amazon drove The Washington Post into crisis
Meanwhile, Trump “to defeat inflation” promises stop funding Biden’s “green” program and calls her “new green scam”. Moreover, the Republican candidate promises to create a commission on the effectiveness of government spending, in particular on the program for the development of electric cars, which Musk don’t mind leading.
Therefore, the billionaire’s main hope for the future of Tesla is Trump’s return to the White House and the repeal of the law that encourages GM and Ford to enter the electric car market. Mask does not hidethat repealing the act would be disruptive to competitors but would benefit his company in the long run.
At the same time, Tesla uses benefits that existed before the law was passed.
“Tesla’s CEO is happy to accept government intervention, but only when it’s aimed at supporting his company, not its competitors. Musk and Trump appear to have the same political goal regarding electric cars: to destroy Biden’s regulatory infrastructure and return to the old structure.
In addition, if Musk’s money will have influence in the White House, then he will be able to create new rules that will work for him,” – writes Business Insider.
Musk understands that he needs to slow down the competition in any way, and Trump, by repealing the law, offers the billionaire unique opportunities.
“Musk needs to keep Tesla in the market until he can create another product that people will want to buy in droves. If that means supporting someone who is putting the global climate agenda at risk, then fine.” describes publishing Musk’s strategy.
Analysts predictthat a Republican victory would be favorable to this Musk tactic, but as with Trump, there are no guarantees.
The risk of a minefieldTrump’s statements about the audit of expenses and the position of chairman of the relevant commission for Musk formalized their several weeks of negotiations on cooperation in the event of victory in November. In addition to the potential advantages, their friendship also creates risks of prosecution: the billionaire has an extensive network of companies, which could cause a conflict of interest if Trump is elected.
“The problem of conflict of interest is one of the most obvious if Musk takes the position, since SpaceX has government contracts and Tesla enjoys federal tax breaks,” – considers Ann Skeet of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.