One wants to take back control of the United States. The other wants to conquer space. The bromance between Donald Trump and Elon Musk seems written in advance: both are rich and not known for their humility. Forgotten the time when the first qualified the entrepreneur as a “bullshit artist”, in 2022, or when the second rather lined up behind Governor Ron DeSantis. “I fully support President Trump and wish him a speedy recovery,” declares the American-South African billionaire on the social network X, of which he is the boss, in a message in reaction to the assassination attempt on the former President of the United States at a meeting in Butler (Pennsylvania) on July 13.
Ideologically, the businessman and the political animal are in sync. The one who built his success in very progressive California, slipped towards an ultra-conservative ideology morning of conspiracy theories. You only have to see their conversation shared on Behind this falsely relaxed exchange, Elon Musk allows the ex-real estate mogul to recycle his campaign themes on a platform from which he had been banned after the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. A few days later, the New York billionaire returns the favor. Near Reutershe then said he was ready to offer a ministerial post, or even an advisory role, “if he wanted it”, to the libertarian.
Elon Musk puts his heart and soul into his 78-year-old’s campaign. Sunday, October 6, the richest man in the world runs on stage to join Donald Trump during his return to Butler, Pennsylvania. Black cap screwed on his head, t-shirt flocked with “Occupy Mars” and fists in the air, the tech troublemaker is all joy. His support for the former head of state is so extreme, intense, that the Democratic clan nicknames him “the real vice-president”. The entrepreneur does not let go of his candidate: he was still with him on the stage of Madison Square, in New York, October 27.
X, Donald Trump’s megaphone
While the two billionaires put on a show, pro-Trump propaganda is running at full speed on the social network had promised to get rid of these accounts powered by computer programs, reports a study by the American Sunlight Project (ASP) organization. In total, thanks to their profile and activity – more than 100 million posts between their creation and July 2024 – more than 1,200 accounts have been associated with “bots”.
Little by little, the social network X is changing its face and becoming Donald Trump’s megaphone. Reports from Wall Street Journal and of Washington Post reveal that the platform is increasingly highlighting messages related to the elections. Recently, it was the Progress 2028 page, very active on Facebook, which got people talking. For more than a month, she has published misleading campaign proposals from Kamala Harris, such as the fact that the Democratic candidate would like to “abolish state borders”. If this entity suggests having been created by the Democrats, it is in reality run by a pro-Trump political NGO, largely financed by… Elon Musk.
“If Donald Trump loses, I’m screwed”
Nothing is too expensive if we want – once again – to change the face of America. Elon Musk goes so far as to promise a million dollar check every day to a Pennsylvania voter – one of the swing states – drawn by lot who will have signed their petition from the “America PAC”, the political action committee supporting the campaign of the candidate of the Grand Old Party. The text concerns the defense of freedom of expression and the right to own a weapon, two elements enshrined in the American Constitution.
This Elon Musk political action committee that supports Donald Trump has already spent more than $119 million this election cycle, according to Open Secrets, a nonprofit. “He even had dinner with Rupert Murdoch and a handful of other billionaires, for Donald Trump,” says the New York Times. But this aid is not free: the powerful businessman sees economic interests in it. “If the tech billionaire’s companies already have huge government contracts, they could benefit from a second term, especially if Musk is given a government role,” continues the New York Times. For SpaceX alone, the contracts linking it to NASA or Defense amount to more than 15 billion dollars, according to the newspaper.
That’s not all. “If Donald Trump loses, I’m screwed,” joked Elon Musk during an interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson. Indeed, as The Express already wrote it, around twenty investigations or legal proceedings have been launched against its various companies, including the Starlink entity, a satellite Internet access provider. The latter was refused a grant of nearly $900,000 from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), run by the Biden administration. Financial inconveniences that he will put behind him in the event of the election of Donald Trump.