What Elon Musk gains by publicly supporting Donald Trump

The billionaire of companies like Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk positioned himself as a key player in the political campaign of Donald Trump for the presidential elections USA .

After the former president was the victim of an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the businessman openly confirmed his support for the standard bearer of the Republican Party .

This happened on July 13 after an individual armed with an AR-15 rifle shot the former president, injuring his right ear, before being killed by Secret Service agents.

In a post from X (former Twitter), a social network acquired by Musk in October 2022, the tech mogul wrote : “I fully support President Trump and I hope for your speedy recovery.

Since then, remained one of his main followers in the presidential race.

The elections are scheduled for November 5, in which case Trump will seek a second term in the White House with JD Vance (Senator from Ohio) as his vice-presidential candidate.

For his part, the current vice-president, Kamala Harris will participate in the elections with Tim Walz (Governor of Minnesota) as his Democratic Party running mate.

In addition to sharing constant messages of support for Trump on social media, Musk participated in events to attract voters and invested millionaire funds in his campaign .

The chairman of the Department of Entrepreneurship at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Erik Gordon, assured that BBC that The traditional political approach of leaders is to “stay out of the public spotlight.” .

However, “Musk does it loud and clear. and therefore, perhaps it becomes a lightning rod.

The tycoon’s pro-Trump political action committee America PAC allocated more than $119 million to this election campaign according to the non-profit organization Open secrets .

Musk’s financial contributions make him one of the biggest individual donors in the race to reach the White House in the following period.

A 21-year-old voter who works as a real estate agent and attended an event with the mogul in Folsom, Pa. told the aforementioned media outlets: The businessman’s efforts to help Trump win the election quickly caught his attention. .

The young man, named Zander Mundy, said: “It shocked me that someone would spend so much time and money to influence voters. This means he’s doing it for a reason. “.

In the images that were captured on this occasion In Folsom, Pennsylvania, Musk can be seen on stage wearing a hat with the phrase “ Make America Great Again » .

This slogan can be translated as “Make America Great Again” and was used by Trump for the campaign that led him to the presidency in 2016. .

Musk He has also used hats with this motto in other instances, such as when he accompanied the former president to a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. last October 5.

That’s it the same place where Trump faced attack in July .

Pennsylvania is one of the “swing states” that is, a party in which support for one party or another tends to change between different elections.

Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin as well were taken into account in this classification.

Unlike those mentioned, Most states tend to see voting patterns favoring one party. specifically.

Different analysts have stated that, In this electoral situation, victory in swing states may be key .

Two weeks before the November elections, Musk and America PAC announced they would distribute $1 million a day until presidential election day .

The mechanism is that They randomly choose a person who will be able to benefit from the service. regardless of party affiliation.

This, provided you are registered on the electoral lists and sign a petition .

During campaign events he attended in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, also part of Pennsylvania, on the penultimate weekend of October, The tycoon handed out poster-sized checks to the winners of these raffles .

Although many Republican supporters praised Musk’s support for Trump during the presidential election, Some have suggested that the tycoon and his businesses could benefit from these actions. .

The CEO of electric vehicle charging platform Chargeway, Matt Teske, told the BBC that the tycoon’s support for the former president in this context This is seen with complexity in the industry .

It should be noted that Musk owns Tesla a company dedicated to the design and sale of electric vehicles.

“I think Musk’s interests are primarily focused on a handful of things that are important to him related to his businesses, and government regulations are topics that worry him. “Teske told the aforementioned media.

He recalled that the 53-year-old tycoon “strongly rejected” restrictions imposed in California during the pandemic .

According to Teske, This marked his distance from the Democratic Party and his approach to Trump’s speech. .

Erik Gordon, University of Michigan academic agree with this analysis .

In November 2020, Biden won the election, then the White House in January 2021. as Trump’s successor.

Over time, Musk began expressing various criticisms against his administration on social networks.

He May 18, 2022 Twitter wrote at the time that I no longer intended to vote for the Democratic Party. .

“In the past, I voted for the Democrats, because they were (for the most part) the party of good. But they have become the party of division and hatred. I can no longer support them and will vote for the Republicans . Now watch his campaign of dirty tricks against me unfold…”

According to the analysis Gordon shared with the aforementioned media outlets, The Tesla and SpaceX tycoon sees himself as someone who has been held back by regulation .

In the words of the academic: “He wants to be on the frontier, a wild entrepreneur, capable of innovating and not getting bogged down by regulations. which tend to delay technological advances by 5, 10, 20 years.

The former president suggested that, If he makes it to the White House again, Musk could oversee ‘cost cutting’ in government .

The analysts consulted by the BBC They stated that, Even if he does not fulfill this task, having supported him during his campaign could help give him great influence. in Trump’s decision-making.

For his part, Musk said he would be willing to lead a ‘government efficiency department’ to end ‘throttling’ which, from their point of view, implies certain regulations.

Various Democratic Party supporters have stated that: If this were to happen after Trump’s possible election victory, the tycoon could find himself in a position where he faces possible conflicts of interest. .

This, because of the contracts it has with companies like SpaceX your company dedicated to the aerospace sector.

The information collected by the New York Times They claim that, In 2023, Musk’s companies have signed nearly a hundred different contracts with 17 federal agencies .

Following the above, The government agreed to give them $3 billion .

At the same time, according to the aforementioned American newspaper, their companies are the subject of at least 20 recent surveys or assessments .

One of them is related to the safety of Tesla vehicles and another is related to environmental damage. generated by its rockets.

Former economic and trade adviser to California Governor Gavin Newson, Lenny Mendonca, told the BBC that while recognizing that those with intertwined governmental and regulatory relationships “can have a voice,” They should not have a position of authority over these same interests .

He stressed that the latter It’s ‘profoundly unethical and illegal’ .

In conversation with the aforementioned media, former Federal Election Commission General Counsel Lawrence Noble, questioned the legality of the millionaire giveaways Musk is hosting as part of the campaign .

“We know what businesses do when left to their own devices. They put profits, shareholder value, and CEO compensation ahead of safety, and either way dismiss security issues as a cost of doing business “, he said.

In this sense, he emphasized that “It is dangerous to have someone in charge of security who views business and government this way” .