Elon Musk, who has become increasingly critical of Joe Biden, has donated to a political group working to get rival presidential candidate Donald Trump elected.
It’s not clear how much Musk donated, but a source said it was a “significant amount” donated to a group called America PAC.
Bloomberg reported that the PAC, a group that can receive unlimited contributions for political activities, must make its list of donors public by July 15.
In March, Trump met with Musk and other wealthy donors, causing such a stir that Musk later made a statement about it on social media.
“To be very clear, I am not donating money to any of the candidates for president of the United States,” he said on March 6.
Elon Musk, who has faced increasing criticism of Joe Biden, has donated to a political group working to help elect rival presidential candidate Donald Trump
In May, he also denied media reports that there had been discussions about a possible advisory role for him during a possible Trump presidency.
Musk has not yet made any official statements about the donation.
Biden campaign spokesman James Singer said Musk knows Trump is “a loser who will betray America, cut taxes, and raise taxes on the middle class by $2,500.”
“Joe Biden has spent his entire career standing up to people like Elon and fighting for the middle class. That’s why he will win in November,” Singer said in a statement.
Unlike other billionaires, Musk hasn’t spent large sums on political donations, but he has previously donated money to both Republicans and Democrats.
Musk has personally provided money to politicians including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Marco Rubio, George W. Bush and John Kerry.
His companies Tesla and SpaceX have benefited from federal government contracts and subsidies.
In recent years, however, Musk appears to be leaning more towards the Republican Party.
In March, Trump met with Musk and other wealthy donors, causing such a stir that Musk made a statement on social media afterward: “Just to make it very clear, I am not donating money to any of the candidates running for president of the United States,” he said on March 6.
This may be partly due to a snub by the Biden administration in 2021, when they did not invite Tesla to an electric vehicle summit.
“Let’s not forget when the White House gave Tesla the cold shoulder and excluded us from the EV leadership,” Musk wrote in December, more than two years after the insult.
The following year, he encouraged his followers on X, formerly Twitter, to vote for a Republican Congress before the midterm elections.
After Musk bought social media platform Twitter in 2022, he restored Trump’s account after it was suspended after January 6.
Musk has generally spoken out against left-wing, “woke” politics and echoes right-wing rhetoric on immigration.
“America will perish if it tries to absorb the world,” Musk wrote on X on Tuesday.
He also claimed that Democrats are “bringing in huge numbers of illegal immigrants” to commit voter fraud, although there is no evidence of this.
Early in the Republican primary season, Musk signaled that he supported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Musk has appeared to have leaned more toward the GOP in recent years. This may be partly due to a snub by the Biden administration in 2021 after it disinvited Tesla from an electric vehicle summit.
DeSantis kicked off his campaign with a livestreamed interview with the billionaire, but it did not lead to a donation.
Trump last month reiterated his pledge to immediately drop the Biden administration’s “mandate” to support the electric car industry. But he added: “I’m a big fan of electric cars. I’m a fan of Elon.”
“He’s doing an incredible job at Tesla.”
Musk said they had “some conversations” and that Trump is a “big fan of the Cybertrucks,” referring to Tesla’s electric pickup trucks.
Musk has openly criticized Biden’s policies on immigration, electric vehicles, and even his age. Yet he made no formal endorsements during the November election. Trump has also said he doesn’t know if Musk supports him.
Musk’s views have damaged his reputation with some consumers, according to a CivicScience study shown exclusively to Reuters.