Donald Trump-Elon Musk Bonhomie Wasn't Hunky Dory From The Start But Then They Hit It Off
This new-found bonhomie between Tesla maker Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump did not exist before. There was a time when Musk told Trump to hang up his boots and sail into the sunset
Elon Musk is a happy man today. Tesla shares are soaring in pre-market trading and Donald Trump – freshly elected the leader of the most powerful country in the world – has just declared his love for him.
“I love you," Trump singled out his “new star" in a rousing speech as he edged close to his historic comeback victory in the presidential election on Wednesday. And, it did not stop there.
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He called Musk a “genius" and said: “We have a new star, a star is born: Elon." He marvelled at the billionaire technocrat’s SpaceX rocket and the deployment of the Starlink satellite internet service during Hurricane Helene. “He’s an amazing guy," he said. “He’s a character, he’s a special guy, he’s a super genius."
This new-found bonhomie, however, between the world’s richest man and the President-elect did not exist before.
There was a time when Musk told Trump to hang up his boots and sail into the sunset. But, in an extraordinary twist that has upended an already unpredictable election, Musk became Trump’s most influential supporter and biggest cheerleader in his bid to return to the White House.
From fighting the Republican’s battles on his social media platform X to endorsing him and pumping unlimited sums into his campaign, the SpaceX boss has done it all. In a probable happily-ever-after for the two, Trump swept the election with 276 electoral votes.
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From Being ‘Anti-Trump’ To Seeing ‘Common Sense’
Musk played a pivotal role in America’s celebrity-focused political landscape in the run-up to the elections. He has always shared a complicated relationship with politicians, but his projected disillusionment with Joe Biden’s administration transformed him from a “moderate Democrat" to a vocal critic of the party.
The technocrat, who became a US citizen in 2002, confirmed way back in 2022 that he will shift to voting Republican because the party he supported before has become “the party of division and hate". But, this announcement did not stop him from being critical of Trump.
In July 2022, he posted on social media: “I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset." He said there will be “too much drama" if Trump tried to run for the White House again, adding: “Do we really want a bull in a china shop situation every single day!?"
While he did lift the ban on Trump’s account when he bought Twitter and turned it into X in 2022, a year later in 2023, he called supporting Trump a “difficult choice" even though he said he will not vote for Biden.
Cut to July 2024, however, the turning point finally arrived with the assassination bid on Trump. Two days after the incident, Musk – who had already been making a few favourable posts here and there – formally endorsed him.
In fact, his father Errol Musk said his son was finally seeing “common sense". He told TalkTV’s US Election 2024 programme: “I’ve been telling him for many years that he should support Donald Trump. He didn’t listen to me in the beginning. He was quite upset about the idea in the beginning – more than upset. He was very anti-Trump a few years ago and he’s changed now… Common sense (changed his mind). He saw what was happening and he didn’t realise it before that you can’t put government in the hands of people who have no knowledge of business… You’ve got to have people like Trump with a business mind. Running a country is a business. It’s nothing else."
The Cheerleader Dream
The first thing that Musk did was to establish the America political action committee, or Super PAC, in July with the primary goal of supporting Trump’s campaign and the ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) movement. It contributed tens of millions of dollars and doled out $1 million giveaways to registered voters in key states.
Analysts said Trump owes Musk a lot. During his campaign, too, he said if he won the White House, he would install the tech billionaire at the head of a government efficiency commission to eliminate “trillions" of dollars in wasteful spending.
The financial powerhouse that he is, Musk has donated nearly $119 million so far to Super PAC, as per Federal Election Commission filings. His net worth is estimated at $264 billion, as per Forbes.
Musk hit the ground running when it came to Trump’s campaign trail and visibility. He appeared with him at rallies and hosted a fawning interview on X, refusing to stay in the shadows like most billionaire backers.
His first joint appearance with Trump was on October 5 in Butler, Pennsylvania – the site of the assassination attempt. During the rally, he delivered an impassioned speech warning that “this will be the last election" if Trump does not win, claiming Democrats would take control of the country. Later, at New York’s Madison Square Garden, he declared to thousands: “I’m not just MAGA, I’m dark Gothic MAGA."
One Social Media Platform To Rule Them All?
Did Musk wield great power and influence through X, formerly Twitter? If we go by recent studies, it seems so. He has transformed the face of the social media platform since the acquisition, with indications that visibility for right-wing content has increased while Democratic and left-wing posts have seen reduced engagement.
While this could be attributed to user exodus following the takeover, algorithm adjustments may also play a role. A Washington Post analysis showed that Republican accounts are posting more frequently and gaining more followers under Musk’s ownership.
A Wall Street Journal investigation found that even accounts following only nonpolitical subjects received predominantly conservative and election-related content, contradicting X’s assurances to advertisers about nonpolitical content exposure.
But, great power is not always followed by great responsibility. At least in Musk’s case, who had no qualms about spreading misinformation through his X account that has over 200 million followers. He successfully spread debunked conspiracy theories about Democrats bringing in “illegal" voters, rigged voting machines and cheating – echoing his ally’s every opinion.
A New York Times analysis of Musk’s X posts over five days last month found nearly one-third of 171 of them contained false information or lacked context. According to the Center for Countering Digital Hate, his false or misleading election claims on X accumulated nearly 1.2 billion views in just a few months.
But, all said and done, it now remains to be seen how much Musk truly stands to gain as Trump sets out for another term at the Oval Office. No single business leader did more to support his candidacy, but he could be facing both positives and negatives.
“He’s bet big here. He dove into the deep end of the pool on this election," tech analyst Daniel Ives told CNN.
(With agency inputs)
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