Elon Musk invested almost a quarter of a billion dollars, with a special emphasis on Pennsylvania, to help elect Donald Trump this year.
Musk, the richest man in the world, poured at least $277 million into national campaigns to elect Trump and other Republicans, according to a federal election report made public this week.
Since its founding in May 2024, Musk’s super PAC has raised a quarter of a billion dollars, according to campaign finance records. The tech tycoon himself or organizations closely associated with him, such as United States of America Inc., a firm he founded earlier this year, accounted for around $238 million of that total.
Musk spent the final four months of the election pushing for Trump in Pennsylvania, where he funded advertisements and conducted canvassing. Along with software entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk has been appointed the colead of a new office of government efficiency, or DOGE, as Trump gets ready to run for office a second time. Musk, the chairman of X and CEO of Tesla, has joined Trump’s inner circle and often joins him at Mar-a-Lago.
Additionally, Musk has stated that he wants his America PAC, which as of Nov. 25 had roughly $2 million in cash on hand, to keep up its efforts by focusing on progressive district attorneys, such as Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who is running for reelection the next year.
Where did Musk’s funds go?
The great majority of the PAC’s funding went to political consultancies for canvassing efforts, many of which focused on Keystone State voters, or out-of-state public relations firms for ad buys.
However, little more than $1 million went straight to Pennsylvania-based organizations.
Red Maverick Media, a Harrisburg-based consulting firm cofounded by veteran strategists Ray Zaborney and Mike Leavitt, received nearly half of that sum, primarily for funding political mailers.
In Harrisburg, Zaborney’s firm has lobbied lawmakers and collaborated with the state GOP’s campaign arm to reelect representatives. He and his spouse have provided political advice to Republican congressional campaigns in Pennsylvania, notably those of U.S. Representatives John Joyce and Dan Meuser.
The majority of the remaining PAC funds were used to cover the expenditures of the event, including facility rentals, hiring staff, and paying local law police for security. Shortly before election night, the PAC also paid $13,000 to reserve a catered room at the five-star Four Seasons hotel in Center City.
Musk also gave more money to organizations that support Trump, increasing his total investment this year to about $277 million. To the disapproval of her family, Trump donated $20 million to the RBG PAC, a group named after former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which poured funds into advertisements meant to make him seem more pro-abortion.
Approximately $40.5 million Americans Notably, PAC funds were used to send cheques to voters in Pennsylvania and other battleground states.
Pennsylvania registered voters were given $100 by the PAC to sign a petition endorsing the First and Second Amendments, and an additional $100 to recommend another signer. Musk declared in late October that he would begin giving swing state voters who signed up $1 million cheques every day until November 5.
Although legal objections to the petitions, including Krasner’s, were unsuccessful in court, some Pennsylvanians who claimed they received checks without taking part in the petition continue to criticize the giveaway.
According to The Inquirer this week, the Pennsylvania Attorney General Office’s Bureau of Consumer Protection received roughly 20 complaints throughout the state about unsolicited and unwelcome $100 cheques that seem to be from Musk’s pro-Donald Trump America PAC.
According to America PAC’s website, participants in the cash-prize program underwent a rigorous eligibility evaluation.
Musk’s attention to Pennsylvania
Shortly after Trump escaped an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Musk gave his endorsement to him on July 13. From then on, he became a devoted campaigner who was determined to win Pennsylvania for Trump.
Prior to the election, Musk traveled the state from a central location in Pittsburgh. He joined Trump on his trip to Butler on October 5 and later that month, he stopped by a high school in Delaware County to campaign for him. In the lead-up to the election, he appeared in the state at least four times to hand away checks.
The extent to which Musk’s involvement directly contributed to Trump’s victory in Pennsylvania is unknown. In the midst of a national red wave, Musk did not campaign in Wisconsin or Michigan, but other key states like Pennsylvania also voted for Trump.
While Democratic incumbent senators in the other swing states held on, Pennsylvania’s margin for Trump was still larger, and Bob Casey, the state’s veteran Democratic senator, lost his reelection to Republican Dave McCormick.
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