The world’s richest man plans on cutting back his political spending after pouring a fortune into helping President Donald Trump win the 2024 election.
“In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Elon Musk said at the Qatar Economic Forum. “I think I’ve done enough.”
He did not rule out future political spending if the conditions warrant it, but for now Musk indicated he does not see a purpose to making further contributions.
“If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it,” Musk added. “I do not currently see a reason.”
Musk, whose net worth is an estimated $421.7 billion, spent over $290 million to get Trump elected, end of year Federal Election Commission filings showed. The total is even greater than previously thought and covered the time period after the election when Trump’s White House was beginning to take shape.
On top of that, Musk became Trump’s most prominent cheerleader on social media and joined him at campaign rallies as a surrogate. With over 200 million followers on X, the social media platform he owns, Musk frequently advocated for Trump and shared his opinions on a number of pressing issues leading up to election.
Musk remained extraordinary influential at the start of the Trump administration as the public facing head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump’s high profile effort to streamline the federal government. He remained involved with his companies, X, Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink, while devoting himself to DOGE’s mission of trimming federal spending and overhauling the administrative state.
The White House named Musk a special government employee, a temporary designation lasting 130 days, meaning his official White House tenure was expected to end at some point this month. In recent weeks, Musk has largely stayed quiet after DOGE’s fast and chaotic moves dominated headlines at the beginning of Trump’s term.
Trump reduced Musk’s power after a March cabinet meeting following high-profile mistakes from DOGE and controversy over its aggressive approach to firings and spending cuts. DOGE’s most ambitious project was its dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development because of its history of wasteful spending and funding for left-wing projects worldwide.
Musk’s power over the Trump administration during its first month prompted liberals to derisively call him “President Musk” and motivated left-wing activists to commit acts of vandalism against Teslas. The Trump Justice Department is aggressively pursuing Tesla vandals and has likened the activities to domestic terrorism.
With Tesla’s stock struggling last month, Musk announced he would soon be stepping back from DOGE to focus on his business ventures. Trump repeatedly defended DOGE and celebrated its efforts to reform the administrative state, a project conservatives have long sought to accomplish. But, DOGE’s overall spending cuts have been minimal and questions remain over its Constitutionality. Congressional Republicans would likely have to codify DOGE’s changes to make them permanent beyond Trump’s term.
Besides DOGE, Musk’s social media presence allowed his influence to help shape conservative politics more broadly. His X usage was a factored into the congressional GOP’s decision to reconsider a mammoth stopgap spending bill in December. He also played a central role in the public debate between different conservative factions on H-1B visas during Christmastime.