By LEILA WORMAN
Global Business Journalism reporter
The U.S. political arena is no stranger to large political donors, as wealthy Americans, industry groups and corporations attempt to influence government actions, lawmakers and the court system. In recent years, however, as the U.S. Supreme Court has removed almost all limits on Americans’ ability to spend money on political causes, the scale of donations has dramatically increased.
No single person has taken advantage of this new reality more than the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who funneled more than $277 million into efforts to elect Donald Trump and other Republicans to office in 2024. Musk’s efforts ranged from a very public “Super PAC” devoted to supporting Trump’s presidential campaign to a shadowy committee called RBG PAC that falsely claimed Trump’s abortion views were similar to the late liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
While Musk’s huge political donations alone are not unique – other billionaires have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to influence the American political system – his combination of spending so much money to elect a president and gaining unprecedented access to the corridors of power makes his influence campaign different.
“Musk took it to a new level,” said Jonathan Salant, a veteran journalist and former president of the National Press Club who spoke to Global Business Journalism students on March 4.
“There already are plenty of hundred million dollar donors. [But] Musk accelerated it. He’s like on steroids.”
Musk’s spending has come under intense scrutiny because he owns a diverse collection of companies dependent upon the presidential administration for billions of dollars in government contracts. Musk’s empire includes electric car producer Tesla, space technology giant SpaceX, satellite company Starlink (a SpaceX subsidiary), and the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, renamed X.
The South African-born billionaire has played a central role in the 2025 Washington political drama since Trump anointed him the de facto head of the newly minted Department of Government Efficiency.
“Musk giving a lot of money is something we have seen [from wealthy donors] before,” Salant told the students. “Musk giving a lot of money and being able to carry out his wishes is something we have not seen before.”
Wielding a chain saw for dramatic effect and using his social media platform to eviscerate critics, Musk has become the public face of Trump’s efforts to “slash and burn” the federal bureaucracy that he has long denounced as “the deep state.” Musk’s flamboyant style and scowling visage have made him a highly polarizing political figure in the United States. According a March 2025 Marist Poll 39% of Americans have a favorable view of Musk, while 50% view him unfavorably.
Salant, a veteran political and investigative reporter, said Musk’s White House role and special access to Trump have made him a lightning rod for controversy in recent months.
“Musk is also an advisor to the president,” said Salant, who has worked for Bloomberg News, the Associated Press, Congressional Quarterly and other news outlets. “People with outside interests have gotten a lot of things they want from him. [However] Musk is actually in the Oval Office, and [can] bypass some of the people he doesn't like.”
Musk was not always known to be such a big spender on political candidates. Over the past quarter-century, he donated sporadically, and often to influential Democrats such as Hillary Clinton and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York. When he bought Twitter four years ago, a study by the website OpenSecrets.org found that he had given about the same amount of money to both major U.S. parties.
In March of 2024, he claimed he would not donate to either political presidential candidate. In July, however, he made his first political contribution of the cycle. Less than two weeks later, he officially endorsed Donald Trump, taking a prominent position on the campaign trail and spending more than a quarter-billion dollars by November, focusing on the swing states that cinched the election for the Republican.
From politically apathetic, Musk became the country’s number one political donor.
Still, despite his lack of cash contributions, Musk had been heavily involved behind the scenes in Washington for years by funding lobbying efforts on behalf of his companies, Salant pointed out.
As Tesla has increased in size, so has the frequency of its lobbying. Musk has hired some of the largest lobbying firms in the United States to lobby for his interests. While lobbying in politics is common, very few people have contributed like Musk. SpaceX has ramped up both its spending on lobbying and its number of lobbyists steadily over time, signaling a desire for more influence on governmental affairs. Its lobbying roster has nearly doubled in 10 years, along with its spending, according to OpenSecrets data.
Musk’s companies have battled the federal bureaucracy over safety investigations, and he has lobbied over automobile emissions mandates that would benefit his electric vehicles. He also has been active on tax matters and federal spending that would aid his interests.
“I mean Elon Musk is an industry himself,” said Salant.