Elon Musk, as one of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's highest profile supporters, has earned praise from the former president. He "is a once-in-a-generation industry leader, and our broken federal bureaucracy could certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency," Trump told Newsweek.
But this mutual respect and admiration has not always prevailed. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk endorsed Trump as his choice for the next U.S. president as late as July 13. The former Democrat switched sides, pouring millions into his pro-Trump committee America PAC.
As recently as 2022, Musk posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he had "strongly supported Obama for President" in 2007, having donated thousands of dollars to both Obama and fellow Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton that year. Additional donations to Clinton came during her 2015 campaign, and Musk criticized Trump's character in a 2016 interview with CNBC.
Having said he voted for Biden in 2020, his donations since have been to Republican organizations; although Musk said in 2021 that he "would prefer to stay out of politics."
Musk's more vocal support for a Republican agenda seems to have surfaced around the same time as his Twitter takeover in November 2022, posting on November 7: "I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic."
Before his official endorsement of Trump in July, Musk's support for the Republican presidential nominee began to publicly surface on X in March, 2024, when he referred to Trump's critics as having "Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS)".
So, why has Musk thrown so much money and effort behind a potential Trump presidency? From similar approaches to deregulation to aligning views on gender ideology and transgender rights, the Tesla CEO may feel his multi-billion investment on supporting a Trump win in November will pay off.
Newsweek reached out to Elon Musk via email for comment. Comments will be included as soon as there are any updates.
Musk on Deregulation and Space Policy
Elon Musk's support for Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. presidential election appears closely tied to his desire for significant government deregulation, particularly in the realm of space exploration. Musk has on several occasions argued that excessive regulations hinder innovation and impede what he sees as progress toward becoming a multiplanetary species—a central goal of his company, SpaceX.
In a series of posts on X, Musk has expressed his concerns about the impact of overregulation on America's future in space. "Voting for Trump is voting for Mars! Unless we stop the slow strangulation by overregulation happening in America, we will never become a multiplanetary civilization," he said.
Musk's posts on this issue seem to stem from regulatory obstacles SpaceX has encountered in the past. These include delays in launch approvals and restrictions imposed by various federal agencies.
He believes that many of these regulations are outdated or unnecessarily burdensome, slowing down innovation within his companies and elsewhere. "Unless there is significant government reform, laws & regulations will keep getting worse every year until every great endeavor, from high-speed rail between our cities to making life multiplanetary, is effectively illegal," Musk claimed.
Trump's platform of reducing government oversight appears to align with Musk's vision.
Musk has proposed the creation of a "Department of Government Efficiency," or DOGE (a joking reference to Dogecoin, which Musk supports). Musk suggested such a department would audit federal agencies to identify and eliminate redundant regulations. Musk's potential role in this initiative could provide him with the influence to reshape regulatory frameworks that currently affect SpaceX.
"With Trump in office, Musk may expect a more favorable regulatory environment for his ventures, including Tesla and SpaceX. Like many Silicon Valley billionaires, Musk resists any limitations on what he perceives as his personal freedom," Dr. Michael Breen, associate professor at the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University, Ireland, told Newsweek.
Tax Cuts and Government Role
The alignment between Musk's ambitions and Trump's policy proposals is further highlighted by Trump's suggestion to appoint Musk as the "secretary of cost-cutting." "He's dying to do this," Trump said during a recent Fox News appearance.
Such a role could make Musk eligible for a special tax benefit worth tens of billions of dollars. According to a report by Rolling Stone, a provision buried in the tax code could allow Musk to reap one of the largest personalized tax breaks in American history if Trump wins the 2024 election and appoints Musk to this proposed government post.
According to tax and ethics experts who spoke to the outlet, a little-known provision in the tax code could allow Musk to indefinitely defer capital gains taxes on any assets he would need to divest to comply with government ethics rules.
This special tax benefit, available only to federal officials, would come in addition to significant tax breaks Musk could gain if a new Trump administration further reduces income and other taxes for billionaires.
So Musk, currently the world's wealthiest person with a net worth of $243.4 billion, could potentially be worth billions more if he were to take a government position in a Trump administration.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris might not suit Musk as much. During her 2019 presidential campaign, Harris advocated for raising the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 35 percent. While Harris supported President Biden's more moderate proposal for a 28 percent rate, she pushed for a steeper increase.
Later, when accepting the Democratic nomination for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Harris pledged to deliver tax relief to middle class Americans, promising her tax cut would help "more than 100 million Americans."
Newsweek reached out to Kamala Harris via email for comment.
Gender Ideology and Transgender Rights
Musk has a personal connection to transgender issues through his estranged daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson.
In an interview with NBC News in July 2024, Wilson said that Musk was largely absent from her childhood and would berate her for displaying feminine traits. According to Wilson, on one occasion Musk "was constantly yelling at me viciously because my voice was too high."
Musk has spoken about his daughter, deadnaming her, or calling her by her birthname instead of preferred name. In a July 2022 interview with conservative media commentator Jordan Peterson, Musk claimed his daughter was "killed" by what he termed the "woke mind virus," vowing to "destroy" it.
Breen said: "It's not just about business—Musk's political views also play a role [in his support for Trump]. He's been vocal in his opposition to what he sees as government overreach, particularly around censorship and gender identity laws."
Trump has pledged to reverse the Biden administration's Title IX expansion that protects transgender students' rights to use bathrooms, locker rooms, and pronouns matching their gender identity.
In January 2024, he announced plans to push for a federal ban on gender-affirming care for minors and proposed restricting doctors who provide such care from Medicare and Medicaid participation.
This contrasts with Harris' view on access to the care that it is "a decision that doctors will make in terms of what is medically necessary."
Musk consistently uses his platform on X to criticize transgender rights. He has called gender-affirming care for minors "pure evil"; said that "sex/gender is literally true down to the bone"; argued that young children "cannot understand the concept of 'gender', and rolled back X's protections for transgender users after acquiring the platform.
His stance, aligning with Trump's position, comes despite his daughter's testimony that gender-affirming care was "lifesaving" in her case.
Wilson directly contradicted Musk's claim that he was "tricked" into authorizing her treatment, saying to NBC News: "He was not by any means tricked. He knew the full side effects."
Censorship and Free Speech
Since acquiring Twitter (now X) in 2022, Musk has positioned himself as a "free speech absolutist" and has made significant changes to the platform's content moderation policies.
Musk rolled back the app's protections for various groups and eliminated much of the platform's trust and safety teams. This has led to what critics describe as an increase in hate speech and unchecked misinformation on the platform.
Musk has also tied in his views on free speech with America PAC. The pro-Trump political action group has been promoting a petition that pledges support for the First and Second Amendments.
The petition is targeted exclusively at registered voters in seven swing states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, and the PAC is running a daily $1 million prize for one lucky petition signer, running from October 19 until Election Day.
During his presidency, Donald Trump frequently criticized what he viewed as censorship (particularly of conservative content) by social media companies and mainstream media outlets. This culminated in his executive order in May 2020 that sought to limit Section 230 protections for social media companies.
After being banned from X (then Twitter) following January 6, 2021, Trump launched his own social media platform, Truth Social, where he recently shared another user's crude suggestions about Harris. Trump was reinstated on X by Musk in 2023.
Most recently, Trump has been claiming that Google is censoring "good stories" about him, only showing results for "bad stories."
"Both Trump and Musk use outrage to juice engagement, both lean into conspiracy lies, both use communication as a way of gaining and keeping power, neither are concerned with the ethics of responsible communication," Dr. Jennifer R. Mercieca, professor at the Department of Communication & Journalism at Texas A & M University, told Newsweek.
"There's a clear business rationale behind Musk's support of Trump. His media company thrives on the attention and engagement that polarizing figures like Trump generate," added Breen.
Because He Can?
As the world's richest person, and in control of a popular social media platform, Musk arguably has the financial means and reach to fund and spread whatever message he chooses. This power may be a driving factor in throwing weight behind a presidential candidate.
"On the margins, Musk's belief in free speech, more stringent border controls, decreased economic regulation, and less progressive stance on trans issues may all factor into his decision to support Trump," Dr Thomas Gift, Associate Professor in Political Science and founding Director of the Centre on U.S. Politics (CUSP) at University College London, told Newsweek.
"Yet while it may not be the most satisfying answer, why Musk is willing to invest so much money and energy into a Trump win may simply boil down to 'because he can.' Musk clearly revels in being a contrarian, and nothing is more contrarian in elite circles than going full-on MAGA," he added.