Elon Musk returns to Trump’s political circle ahead of midterms
WASHINGTON, DC: Elon Musk is jumping back into Republican politics as the November midterms approach. After keeping some distance from Trump last year, Musk is back in Washington, making waves and reclaiming his spot as a leading financial supporter of the GOP.
On Monday, Musk’s America PAC spokesperson said he gave $276 million to multiple Republican super PACs and political groups over the past three months, The New York Times reported.
A return after a very public falling out
“Nothing brings people together like a common enemy and it’s election season,” GOP strategist Chris Johnson told The Hill.
Musk’s uptick in spending made headlines Monday, when a spokesperson for his America PAC confirmed the technology executive gave $276 million to several Republican super PACs and organizations over the past three months.
The latest donations, first reported by The New York Times, bring Musk’s contributions to $366 million this election cycle.
“If Democrats take control of Washington and win key gubernatorial and attorney general races this November, then America risks becoming a socialist, woke and borderless country,” Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for America PAC, said in a statement to the Times confirmed by The Hill.
“These robust investments have allowed the GOP apparatus to get its message out so Republicans can have a fighting chance to defy history,” Romeo added.
Musk resurfaced after a rocky period with the White House.
He’d pumped hundreds of millions into Trump’s 2024 campaign and ran the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.
He stepped down from that role in late May 2025, supposedly on good terms, but days later, he and Trump had a very public falling out.
Afterward, Musk toyed with starting a third party but eventually put that idea on hold and turned his attention back to his businesses.
By May, he said he planned to spend “a lot less” on politics, and in July, he told The Economist he’d “got carried away” and gotten “a little too involved in politics.”
Despite this, by the end of July, Musk gave America PAC the green light to spend between $100 million and $120 million on a conservative voter turnout program for this election cycle.
A different kind of role in Washington
And while he isn’t serving as Trump’s adviser anymore, he is increasingly appearing alongside the president at high-stakes events and has taken on a new leadership role for a Pentagon project.
“He is analyzing the political climate right now, and he sees that he can have an impact,” Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas-based Republican strategist and CEO of the Alliance for Secure AI, said, adding, “If you ask most Republicans” about Musk’s donations, “it would be welcome.”
Last month, he sat beside Trump at an AI luncheon. Not long before that, he joined other tech leaders at the state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Earlier this month, Trump awarded him the National Medal of Science. Now, Musk has a new role: the Pentagon picked him, along with Anduril’s Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, to run “Project Meridian.”
Emil Michael, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, oversees the project. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says their mission is clear: pinpoint weapons and systems essential for any future battlefield.
