Elon Musk’s US$45 million-a-month pledge boosts Trump’s re-election bid

The billionaire entrepreneur endorsed Trump after the former US president was wounded in an attempted assassination on Saturday

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Elon Musk’s (left) planned cash infusion could help build Donald Trump’s fundraising advantage over incumbent US President Joe Biden. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:13pm, 16 Jul 2024Updated: 2:16pm, 16 Jul 2024

Elon Musk is pledging to pour US$45 million a month into a pro-Donald Trump political group, a move that would flood the Republican nominee’s re-election effort with cash through to the November election.

Musk’s planned cash infusion could help build Trump’s fundraising advantage over President Joe Biden, who has suffered from a donor revolt in recent weeks, with some calling for him to step aside for a new nominee. The billionaire entrepreneur endorsed Trump in a post on X after the former president was wounded while addressing a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening.

Palantir’s Joe Lonsdale and crypto billionaires Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss are among other big donors to the group, America PAC, which is working to reach out to voters to convince them to show up to the polls in November.

The super political action committee raised US$8.8 million in the second quarter, spent US$7.8 million and started July with a little less than US$1 million cash on hand, according to its most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission.

Musk – who didn’t contribute until July, according to a person familiar with the matter – wasn’t listed in the report, which includes donations made between the PAC’s founding on May 22 and the end of June.

Musk pictured at an event in May. He has pledged to flood Trump’s re-election effort with cash through to the November election. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

Lonsdale gave US$1 million through his company Lonsdale Enterprises Inc. The Winklevoss twins each gave US$250,000. Other donors include Joe Craft, chief executive officer of Alliance Resource Partners, who gave US$1 million. His wife, Kelly Craft, was US ambassador to the United Nations under Trump.

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