Trump Needs Elon Musk. Here’s Why He’s Not Happy About It.
Donald Trump doesn’t like Elon Musk very much, even though the billionaire technocrat is pulling out all the stops to get the former president back into the White House. Since formally endorsing Trump in July, Musk has raised millions for Trump’s campaign through his America PAC, which has poured $16 million into outreach in the last two weeks alone. Due to an FEC rule passed in March, Musk’s super PAC is able to coordinate directly with the Trump campaign—forming what could be an essential part of Trump’s otherwise flimsy ground game. Last month, Musk held a glitchy, train-wreck interview with Trump on X that got them both in legal trouble, and the X owner promptly started placing ads for the Republican nominee all over his social media site. Trump went on to mention Musk at several sleepy rallies and chaotic press events, and posted really, really strange stuff to tout their new friendship—but apparently their alliance is purely transactional. In reality, Trump thinks his new ally is … well …Trump “thinks he’s weird,” one source close to the former president told Rolling Stone. “Sorry to use a word used a lot by Democrats now.” The source had spoken to Trump about Musk as recently as July.Another source who had been in the room several times while Trump had spoken to Musk told Rolling Stone that the former president had complained about the Tesla CEO a few times, calling him “boring” and describing him as tiresome and moody. Musk’s pro-Trump PAC has already landed in hot water in Michigan and North Carolina for allegedly collecting personal information under the guise of voter registration, although lawyers for the PAC wrote letters assuring state investigators that “America PAC is utilizing the data it collects to register voters and encourage them to vote.” It doesn’t seem like either state will take immediate action against Musk’s PAC, but both said that they will continue to monitor the group.
Donald Trump doesn’t like Elon Musk very much, even though the billionaire technocrat is pulling out all the stops to get the former president back into the White House.
Since formally endorsing Trump in July, Musk has raised millions for Trump’s campaign through his America PAC, which has poured $16 million into outreach in the last two weeks alone. Due to an FEC rule passed in March, Musk’s super PAC is able to coordinate directly with the Trump campaign—forming what could be an essential part of Trump’s otherwise flimsy ground game.
Last month, Musk held a glitchy, train-wreck interview with Trump on X that got them both in legal trouble, and the X owner promptly started placing ads for the Republican nominee all over his social media site. Trump went on to mention Musk at several sleepy rallies and chaotic press events, and posted really, really strange stuff to tout their new friendship—but apparently their alliance is purely transactional. In reality, Trump thinks his new ally is … well …
Trump “thinks he’s weird,” one source close to the former president told Rolling Stone. “Sorry to use a word used a lot by Democrats now.” The source had spoken to Trump about Musk as recently as July.
Another source who had been in the room several times while Trump had spoken to Musk told Rolling Stone that the former president had complained about the Tesla CEO a few times, calling him “boring” and describing him as tiresome and moody.
Musk’s pro-Trump PAC has already landed in hot water in Michigan and North Carolina for allegedly collecting personal information under the guise of voter registration, although lawyers for the PAC wrote letters assuring state investigators that “America PAC is utilizing the data it collects to register voters and encourage them to vote.” It doesn’t seem like either state will take immediate action against Musk’s PAC, but both said that they will continue to monitor the group.
