Elon Musk donated $15 million to support Donald Trump and Republican congressional candidates in June, even as he was engaged in a public feud with the president and criticizing the GOP, according to new Federal Election Commission filings. The SpaceX CEO gave $5 million to Trump’s super PAC MAGA Inc. and $10 million split between the Congressional Leadership Fund and Senate Leadership Fund, the top super PACs supporting House and Senate Republicans. These donations came weeks into Musk’s bitter falling out with Trump over policy disagreements and personal attacks.
According to Politico, the contributions were made on June 27, a month after Musk had suggested he was finished with political spending when he said he had “done enough” at the Qatar Economic Forum in May. At that time, he stated that while he would consider future political donations if he saw a reason, he didn’t currently see one. The timing of the donations is particularly notable given that Musk was simultaneously engaged in public criticism of Republicans for supporting what he called a deficit-busting megabill.
The donations occurred during a period when Musk was publicly attacking Trump on social media over both policy differences and in escalating personal disputes. While Musk later deleted some of his critical posts, he resumed his attacks on Trump in July, including criticism of the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The week after making these substantial donations, Musk announced he would start his own political party, further complicating his relationship with the existing Republican structure.
Musk becomes top individual donor despite public GOP criticism
Musk’s $10 million in donations to the Congressional Leadership Fund and Senate Leadership Fund made him the largest known individual donor to the main House and Senate GOP super PACs for the year. However, these amounts represent only a fraction of the total funds raised by these organizations. The Congressional Leadership Fund brought in $32.7 million in the first half of the year, while the Senate Leadership Fund raised $26.4 million. Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC raised $176 million over the same period.
Beyond these congressional donations, Musk, who has gained unprecedented access to federal systems, also invested another $45 million of his own money into his personal super PAC, America PAC, during the spring. This group focused primarily on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race in April, spending $27 million on petition incentives and $12.7 million on campaigning related to that race. The effort also included three controversial $1 million payments to spokespeople selected for signing Musk’s petition opposing what he termed “activist judges.”
Musk’s political involvement showed mixed results, with his preferred candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, conservative Brad Schimel, losing by 10 points. This defeat was widely interpreted as evidence of Musk’s potential electoral liability for Republican candidates.
In July, following his donations and continued criticism of the existing party structure, Musk announced plans to create his own political party called the America Party. The FEC filings, which only cover through the end of June, provide no details about what this new political venture might involve or how it would operate alongside his continued financial support for existing Republican organizations.
Published: Aug 1, 2025 04:22 pm