Former President Donald Trump on Thursday denied the news that billionaire Elon Musk had promised to contribute $45 million each month to support his election campaign. This denial came after Musk himself had also rejected such reports just two days earlier.
During a phone interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump mentioned Musk, saying, “I have a good relationship with him, I think he’s a good guy.”
The Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election then went on to say, “Someone told me that he was going to give me $45 million every month. I said, ‘That sounds like a lot, even for Elon.'”
Trump then explicitly stated that Musk had never told him about the $45 million contribution.
“But he did say, ‘I strongly support you,’ even though I oppose that electric vehicle mandate,” Trump said, referring to a measure taken by the Biden administration to prioritize the production and sale of electric vehicles over fuel-powered cars.
Trump made these clarifications in response to some previous reports. After Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on July 13, Musk quickly stated that he would fully support him. Subsequent media reports claimed that the tech billionaire had promised to donate $45 million per month to a conservative political action committee to support Trump’s campaign.
Musk also denied this report. On Tuesday, during an interview with conservative commentator Jordan Peterson, he stated, “The media reports are fundamentally untrue.”
That evening, Musk took to social media to explain that he would still support the American PAC but did not confirm nor deny the $45 million figure or how much of these funds would be used to support Trump.
In his post, he wrote, “This is ridiculous,” and mentioned that he would be donating money to the American PAC, but in a much smaller amount.
Back in early March, Musk had previously stated on social media that he would not be providing donations to either Trump or President Biden for the 2024 presidential election. He made it clear, “I will not donate to either of the presidential candidates in the United States.”
However, Musk could still provide financial support to a presidential candidate through alternative means, such as making donations to a political action committee supporting a specific candidate or party, rather than directly contributing to a campaign team.