Campaign finance filings recently
released show that tech billionaire Elon Musk donated $5 million in late June to MAGA Inc., the principal super PAC supporting President Donald Trump, despite an ongoing public feud.
Musk had been one of Trump’s most prominent supporters during the 2024 election cycle,
contributing nearly $300 million to Republican campaigns, largely through America PAC, and briefly serving as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) before leaving on May 30, after his 130-day tenure as a special government employee ended.
In a way to say goodbye, Trump had presented Musk with a ceremonial gold key in the Oval Office on that same day, honoring his work establishing DOGE and marking his departure from government service.
Just days later, the relationship shifted into open confrontation with Musk criticizing Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill on
June 3. Two days later, Musk escalated the dispute with a
now-deleted post on X
criticizing the handling of the Epstein files.
Trump responded on Truth Social, calling Musk “CRAZY” over electric vehicle policies and suggesting he might revoke Tesla and SpaceX contracts, saying that would be “the easiest way to save money.” By June 11, Musk deleted his posts and issued a public apology,
stating that he had “gone too far.”
The newly released Campaign finance filings show that, on June 27, Musk had donated $5 million to MAGA Inc., alongside $5 million each to the Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund. Within a day, however, he again criticized the One Big Beautiful Bill and renewed his public opposition to the measure.
Musk’s frustration with the bill centered on its deficit-financed spending. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the law is projected to add $3.25 trillion to the federal deficit over 10 years. Musk, a vocal advocate of fiscal restraint, argued that Republican lawmakers who supported the package had abandoned their promises to reduce spending.
On June 30, he
posted on X: “Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
At the same time, Musk was polling for a new political movement. On June 5, he polled followers on X about forming “a new political party in America that actually represents the 80 percent in the middle.” By July 4, he posted that Independence Day was the perfect time to ask if Americans wanted independence from the two-party or "uniparty" system. Musk formally announced the America Party on July 5, after 65.4 percent of his poll participants supported the idea in his poll.
Trump publicly dismissed the effort, adding that third parties have never succeeded in the United States. Trump also
suggested that DOGE, the government efficiency office Musk once led, should examine the billions in government subsidies awarded to Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX.
Musk indicated in late May that he intended to scale back his political contributions.
