Musk makes multi-million dollar Trump pledge – WSJ

The “extraordinary” sum will reportedly be donated to a group focused on helping Donald Trump win the election 

Tech billionaire Elon Musk says he’s planning to give around $45 million a month to a new super political action committee backing former US President Donald Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Musk had indicated that he plans to start donating this month to a group called America PAC, which will focus on voter outreach with the intention of combating similar campaigns by Democrats, according to the outlet.

If Musk follows through with a donation of this scale, it would be “an extraordinary sum,” the WSJ noted.

As of the end of June, the tech mogul had not given any money to the group, according to a financial filing submitted to the Federal Election Commission on Monday.

Other backers of the super PAC, which was formed in late May, include high-profile entrepreneurs such as Palantir software company co-founder Joe Lonsdale and crypto billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the filing showed. Lonsdale donated $1 million and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss each contributed $250,000, according to media reports.

The group raised $8.75 million since its inception and had just under $100,000 in cash as of the end of June, according to the federal filing.

Musk, one of the world’s richest people with an estimated net worth of $252 billion, publicly endorsed Trump shortly after the Republican presidential nominee survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Several shots were fired as the former president delivered a speech to a campaign rally, with one of them grazing his right ear.

“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.

The commitment breaks a previous pledge by Musk to stay out of the 2024 election campaign, with the billionaire describing himself as politically independent. In March, Musk said he would not be donating to either presidential candidate.

However, Musk has repeatedly criticized the current White House administration since 2022. In late May, the entrepreneur denounced the guilty verdict of a Manhattan jury as Trump was convicted on 34 charges of “falsifying business records.”

Musk has appeared to be growing closer to Trump in recent months, with the WSJ reporting in May that the Tesla CEO and the former president had secret talks over a possible White House advisory role for Musk in a second Trump administration.