Musk gives at least $132 million to elect Trump, GOP allies

The donations — revealed in disclosures with the Federal Election Commission Thursday — show that the Tesla Inc. and SpaceX chief executive officer has poured money into the Washington trifecta: funding Trump’s White House bid, along with supporting House and Senate Republicans.

Musk, who had only given modest political donations until the 2024 election cycle, funneled $43.6 million in the first half of October into America PAC, the group he founded, bringing his total for the year to $118.6 million. He also spent millions more spreading money around the political system which helps him build a network of allies.

That level of giving has vaulted him into the upper echelon of political donors, making Musk one of the most prolific contributors of the entire 2024 cycle.

The filings show donations through Oct. 16 and are the final detailed look at federal campaigns’ and super political action committees’ finances before Election Day on Nov. 5.

Musk’s super PAC is paying for operations to boost voter turnout for Trump in battleground states and Republicans in swing districts that could help the GOP win a House majority. America PAC is also spending on digital ad campaigns, some of which target young men, trying to get them to the polls to offset Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ advantage among women voters.

Musk’s giving to other groups included $10 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC that aims to elect Senate Republicans, and $2.3 million to the Sentinel Action Fund, a super PAC doing get-out-the-vote work for Republican Senate campaigns in Montana, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania. 

The donations are the latest demonstration of how Musk, whose companies boast billions of dollars worth of federal contracts and who has personally bristled at government regulations, is expanding his political influence network to include a potential future president and members of Congress.

His political activities have received some scrutiny from federal officials. The US Justice Department sent a letter to his super PAC this week warning that a program to give $1 million a day to registered voters in swing states who sign an online petition may violate federal laws. It’s illegal to pay individuals to vote or to register to vote. 

In addition to Musk, eight other individuals also donated to America PAC, including investor Nelson Peltz and members of the DeVos family, who are longtime Republican donors. Betsy DeVos was Trump’s education secretary.

America PAC spent $47 million and had $3.3 million cash on hand heading into the last 19 days before Election Day. Since its launch earlier this year through Oct. 16, America PAC has spent $105 million backing Trump.

Musk is playing an unprecedented role in the 2024 campaign for a political donor. In addition to his donations, he’s appeared on stage with Trump and held his own campaign rallies without the former president. At an event earlier this month in Pennsylvania, Musk used ominous rhetoric, telling the crowd that “this election is going to decide the fate of America. And along with the fate of America, the fate of western civilization.”

The former president has said he would ask Musk to join his administration should he win a second term, heading up an effort to cut government waste nicknamed the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a reference to a cryptocurrency Musk has embraced.

Deep-pocketed donors are playing a critical role in supporting Trump, who lags far behind Harris in fundraising. She’s been outspending his campaign in all seven of the battleground states that will decide the election in the final stretch since Labor Day, according to data from AdImpact. Her media buys total $352 million compared to $214 million for Trump.

Harris’ financial advantage has also allowed her to open more then 330 field offices staffed with more than 2,000 paid employees to help conduct its voter-mobilization operations. But the candidates are statistically tied among likely voters in each of the seven swing states in the Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll, with the razor-thin margins in these battlegrounds underscoring how the final blitz of advertising, rallies and door-knocking campaigns could decide who claims the White House.

Here’s the latest on what the presidential campaigns raised:

Donald Trump

• Trump and the Republican Party raised $111 million in the first half of October and had $216 million cash on hand for the final weeks
• Make America Great Again Inc., his main super PAC, raised $9.8 million and had $31 million cash on hand

In the final days of his third campaign for the White House, Trump and the GOP received donations from Miriam Adelson of Las Vegas Sands, Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, Jeffery Hildebrand, founder of Hilcorp Energy, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, and Adam Johnson, chairman and CEO of NetJets Inc.

Trump’s main super PAC, MAGA Inc., got $5 million from Facebook co-founder Jan Koum and $1 million donations from Johnson and investment banker Warren Stephens. Koum’s donation came in the form of shares of Meta Platforms Inc.

Adelson didn’t donate any more funds to her super PAC, Preserve America, but Oracle CEO Safra Catz gave $1 million, and Uline co-founder Elizabeth Uihlein gave $3 million. Turnout For America, which is focusing on bolstering Trump’s ground game, raised $6.9 million and had $8.6 million cash on hand heading into the final days. Billionaire Diane Hendricks gave the group $5 million.

Kamala Harris

• Harris and the Democratic Party raised $188 million in the first 16 days of October and entered the final weeks with $270 million cash on hand
• Future Forward, her allied super PAC, raised $89 million and had $21 million cash on hand

Harris continued to attract big Democratic donors to her campaign and the Democratic Party, including Barry Diller, chief executive officer of media firm IAC Inc., Lupa Systems CEO James Murdoch and his wife Kathryn Murdoch, and Tony James, a former Blackstone Group executive.

Future Forward received $40 million from its allied nonprofit Forward USA Action, which doesn’t disclose its donors, $25 million from Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and $1 million from venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.