Elon Musk donated $15 million to support Donald Trump and Republican congressional candidates in June, even as he was engaged in a public feud with the president and criticizing the GOP, according to new Federal Election Commission filings. The SpaceX CEO gave $5 million to Trump’s super PAC MAGA Inc. and $10 million split between the Congressional Leadership Fund and Senate Leadership Fund, the top super PACs supporting House and Senate Republicans. These donations came weeks into Musk’s bitter falling out with Trump over policy disagreements and personal attacks.
According to Politico, the contributions were made on June 27, a month after Musk had suggested he was finished with political spending when he said he had “done enough” at the Qatar Economic Forum in May. At that time, he stated that while he would consider future political donations if he saw a reason, he didn’t currently see one. The timing of the donations is particularly notable given that Musk was simultaneously engaged in public criticism of Republicans for supporting what he called a deficit-busting megabill.
