Unsurprisingly, the $5 billion donation made waves across the political spectrum. Trump supporters hailed Musk as a modern-day patriot, comparing him to George Washington with a little Steve Jobs thrown in for good measure. “Elon is doing for democracy what he did for electric cars,” one rally attendee said. “He’s supercharging it.”

But critics, as always, were quick to pounce. Democratic strategists accused Musk of attempting to “buy an election,” while progressive Twitter (or X, as Musk insists on calling it) went into meltdown mode. The hashtag #BillionairesBuyingElections trended within minutes of Musk’s announcement, though some argued that the trend was a self-fulfilling prophecy, given that Musk owns the platform.

Political analysts, meanwhile, pointed out that this donation marks the largest single financial contribution to a presidential campaign in U.S. history, though some wonder if Musk is more interested in cementing his legacy as a political kingmaker than in Trump’s policies.

“Elon Musk doesn’t care about politics in the traditional sense,” said one analyst on a cable news program. “This is about ego, power, and leaving his mark on history. Musk sees Trump as a vehicle for his own vision of the future—a future that involves fewer regulations, more rockets, and a lot more freedom.”

CONTINUE READING ON THE NEXT PAGE

Advertisement: