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Jabin Botsford

Elon Musk played a video game on his private jet as it hurtled toward Palm Beach, Florida, where he was due to watch election results with former president <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/donald-trump/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Donald Trump</a>. As aircraft engines whirred in the background, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX told thousands of listeners that the 2024 presidential campaign was just the start of his political ambitions.

America PAC, the pro-Trump political group Musk <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/10/15/musk-america-pac-door-knocking/">formed</a> and funded with at least $118 million of his own money, “is going to keep going after this election, and prepare for the midterms and any intermediate elections,” Musk said on a live stream on his social media platform X. In the next round of races for the House, the Senate and even some local offices, he said his super PAC “is going to aim to weigh in heavily.”

Later, as Musk hung out at Mar-a-Lago with other wealthy donors and a Trump victory appeared guaranteed, his posts on X became increasingly triumphant. “The future is gonna be fantastic,” he wrote over a <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1854048115206078507" target=_blank>picture of a SpaceX rocket </a>launching on a pillar of flame.

Musk’s presence at Trump’s side Tuesday night marked an inflection point in an unprecedented metamorphosis, as the world’s richest man vowed to turn his erratic but visionary ethos more fully to the nation’s politics. Since endorsing Trump in July, Musk — once known primarily for pushing boundaries in electric vehicles and rockets — has become a prominent force in the conservative political movement set to return to the White House.

As the election results poured in, Musk tweeted about his excitement about working with Trump on a commission to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/11/01/elon-musk-cuts-government-trump-election/?itid=ap_elizabethdwoskin">slash government spending</a>. He <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1854026234339938528" target=_blank>posted a picture </a>of himself deep in conversation with the former president and Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White at the Trump watch party, adding a fire emoji and four American flags. And over <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1854034776815972649" target=_blank>a meme </a>of himself holding a ceramic sink in the Oval Office, he wrote: “Let that sink in.”

Trump added to the sense of destiny, fawning over Musk, his rockets and his satellite internet service as he declared victory early Wednesday. “We have a new star,” Trump said. “A star is born — ELON!”

Wealthy donors have long used fat pocketbooks to shape the political landscape, but Musk has unique power and appeal, longtime Republican strategists said. In addition to his <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/25/elon-musk-donald-trump-donation/">immense wealth</a> — Bloomberg estimates his net worth at over $260 billion — Musk has an avid online following of hundreds of millions, control of a major social media platform and a willingness to push political and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/28/elon-musk-philadelphia-lawsuit/?itid=ap_amybwang">legal boundaries</a>, allowing him to redefine notions of how a business tycoon can engage with politics.

“You have the world’s richest man who is also the owner of the largest or most visible online political message board, who is also one of the most prominent surrogates for the Republican Party,” said Tyler Brown, the former digital director for the Republican National Committee. “We’ve seen these parts independently, but it’s unique to see it come together in one role.”

For most of the two decades since PayPal’s IPO made Musk into a major figure in the tech world, he generally steered clear of politics. He spoke <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/11/musk-x-feed-politics-trump/?itid=ap_faizsiddiqui">more often</a> of lofty technological ventures like colonizing Mars, and said he voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. As recently as March, he <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1765397025967710542?lang=en">wrote </a>on X that “I am not donating money to either candidate for US President.”

This spring, Musk quietly picked a side, forming America PAC with grand ambitions of triggering a “red wave” on Nov. 5. The super PAC launched a massive <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/10/15/musk-america-pac-door-knocking/">door-knocking campaign in swing states</a>, with a focus on encouraging people in rural areas to register to vote and get to the polls early — a strategy that appeared to have paid dividends for Trump, according to early returns.

Musk was closely involved in the tactical details, at one point joining weekly Zoom calls to receive updates on how many new voters the PAC had reached. But he didn’t publicly pledge his support for Trump until July 13 in the moments after the former president was wounded in an attempted assassination at a rally in Butler, Pa.

After that, Musk went all in, becoming one of Trump’s most visible surrogates. In the final weeks of the campaign, he hosted town halls in battleground states and awarded swing state voters <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/05/elon-musk-1-million-giveaway-pennsylvania-judge-krasner/">$1 million checks</a> for signing a petition endorsing the First and Second amendments. He used his X account to broadcast conspiracy theories about crimes committed by illegal immigrants and false claims of election fraud to his 200 million followers.

Musk’s involvement has been exciting for Trump voters like Don Marx, 65, of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, who said he appreciates having someone like Musk on “our side.”

“He’s brilliant, but eccentric,” Marx said, after an American PAC canvasser knocked last month on his door. “You have the money on the Democrat side to get out the vote and do all this stuff. And it’s nice to see somebody on the other side.”

Political operatives were also charmed. “We are used to donors giving money and then going on their way. But Musk is innovative, young and passionate,” said one strategist working with the America PAC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss his employer candidly.

The 53-year-old Musk, who was born in South Africa and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/10/26/elon-musk-immigration-status/">immigrated to the United States</a> via Canada, has said he backs Trump because he is the only candidate able to “preserve democracy in America.” The entrepreneur has also said he shares Trump’s views on crime, the economy and stopping illegal immigration — though Musk launched his own career while <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/10/26/elon-musk-immigration-status/" target=_blank>working in the United States illegally</a>.

Musk also shares key cultural values with Trump’s conservative movement. The entrepreneur, who has at least 11 children with three women, often discusses the moral imperative to start a family and warns about population collapse. And he has become increasingly sympathetic to right-wing views as his relationship with his transgender daughter has publicly deteriorated.

In an interview with Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson this summer, Musk said the experience with his daughter has made him a staunch opponent of gender-affirming care and fueled his desire to “destroy the woke mind virus.”

Now, Musk’s prominent role in Trump’s victory positions him to help transform Washington. He has repeatedly discussed with Trump the idea of joining a new commission to slash federal spending by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/10/29/elon-musk-2-trillion-budget-cuts-trump-election/" target=_blank>as much as $2 trillion</a>. That endeavor that likely would involve cutting large numbers of federal workers, echoing a strategy Musk has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/11/01/elon-musk-cuts-government-trump-election/">deployed</a> at his many businesses.

Meanwhile, industry experts say Musk’s companies in the space and auto industries — already major federal contractors — are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/10/24/musk-trump-starlink-satellites-election/">poised to gain</a> billions more in a Trump administration.

NASA depends on SpaceX for rocket launches, including to supply the International Space Station, and the company’s Starlink communications satellite division is expanding into <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/10/24/musk-trump-starlink-satellites-election/">surveillance contracts</a>. Tesla is working to launch autonomous taxi vehicles without steering wheels or pedals, a goal that would require federal approval.

Musk is known for imbuing his companies with a spirit of freewheeling innovation that can break technical boundaries — but also eschew regulatory restrictions. He is notorious for setting sky-high expectations for employees and then cutting loose individuals or <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/05/03/tesla-charging-us-network/">whole teams</a> that disappoint him.

Musk’s recent political operations have shown some of those hallmarks. Multiple contractors working with America PAC were suddenly fired and the group <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/10/24/doj-elon-musk-1-million-giveaway-election-laws/">received a warning</a> from the Justice Department last month that Musk’s daily million-dollar voter giveaway could breach election laws.

While some Republican strategists said they were eager for Musk to pour his money and energy into a new Trump administration and the MAGA movement, others were skeptical of Musk’s long-term commitment to politics. Blake Masters, a venture capitalist, former GOP congressional candidate and aide to tech billionaire Peter Thiel, said he does not expect Musk to be a “predictable institutional player.”

“I would just say the only thing you could predict is his involvement would be sort of less predictable and more tailor-made to the particular circumstances,” Masters said. Guys like Musk “are good investors, and the last thing they want to do is become some gravy train employer for legions of political consultants to just sort of mooch.”

Pulitzer Prize finalist for investigative reporting, 2023 

Livingston Award finalist, 2023

Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for outstanding watchdog journalism, 2022

Scripps Howard finalist for excellence in multimedia journalism, 2023

Boston University, BA in journalism

Trisha Thadani joined The Washington Post in 2023 from the San Francisco Chronicle. She covers the technology industry.

Trisha Thadani

Winner of the 2017 Overseas Press Club Bob Considine Award for "Behind the Firewall" Series on Silicon Valley China

 2010 Finalist, Livingston Award for Young Journalists

 2009 Finalist, Livingston Award for Young Journalists 

Columbia University, BA. 

Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, MS.

Lizza joined The Washington Post as Silicon Valley correspondent in 2016, becoming the paper's eyes and ears in the region. She focuses on social media and the power of the tech industry in a democratic society. Before that, she was the Wall Street Journal's first full-time beat reporter covering AI and the impact of algorithms on people's lives. 

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