Musk’s political influence has waned since reaching its apex with Trump earlier this year, when his Department of Government Efficiency served as the administration’s cost-cutting enforcer. He had been the largest single financial contributor in the 2024 election, with almost all of his spending supporting Trump.
His months-long political foray damaged the Tesla Inc brand, with consumers associating the cars with Musk’s right-wing politics, and investors worried that his time in Washington was distracting him from continuing to innovate.
Musk left the White House in May and soon became embroiled in a public falling-out with Trump over the president’s budget-busting tax-cut bill.
Musk himself appeared soured by his experience in politics. He later threatened to create a third party to challenge the Democratic and Republican “duopoly,” and told Bloomberg that he had “done enough” in contributing to Republican candidates. Several Republicans, notably including Vance, have since worked to find ways to bring Musk back into the GOP fold.
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Tesla’s board chairwoman, Robyn Denholm, has said that Musk has wide latitude on future electoral engagement, as long as he meets the performance targets tied to his US$1 trillion compensation package.
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