Billionaire Elon Musk appeared to scale back his reported commitment to donating $45 million per month in support of former President Donald Trump, stating on Tuesday that his contributions will be “at a much lower level.”
Last Monday, the same day Donald Trump announced Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate, it was reported that Musk had pledged to donate the record amount to America PAC, which was founded by prominent wealthy conservative donors.
However, during a Tuesday interview with conservative commentator Jordan Peterson, Musk distanced himself from the reported $45 million figure for Trump, saying:
“What’s been reported in the media is simply not true."
I am not donating $45m a month to Trump. Now what I have done is that I have created a PAC or SuperPAC or whatever you want to call it. It is called the America Pac."
America PAC has already received support from some of Musk’s friends and allies in the tech industry, according to the New York Times. This includes Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of the software company Palantir alongside Peter Thiel, a significant political donor to Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance.
Musk did not clarify how he plans to contribute to the PAC.
Later, writing on X, he responded with the following message to discredit news organizations he and others believe erroneously reported on the pledge:
"Yeah, it’s ridiculous. I am making some donations to America PAC, but at a much lower level and the key values of the PAC are supporting a meritocracy [and] individual freedom. Republicans are mostly, but not entirely, on the side of merit [and] freedom."
You can see his response below.
This news comes just days after Trump boasted about the reported donation during a recent rally:
"We've got to make life good for our smart people ... He's [Musk] as smart as you get. But Elon endorsed me the other day and I read that he'll give me $45 million a month."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Musk's confirmation that he would not in fact be donating such a large amount to the PAC led many to mock Trump profusely.
Musk's denial is an about-face from reports earlier this year that he'd been growing closer to Trump in recent months.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Trump and Musk have discussed a potential advisory role for him in the event Trump returns to the White House. The publication noted this spring that the specifics of the role are still being discussed and may not come to fruition.
Trump and Musk have also reportedly explored ways to grant Musk formal input and influence over border security and economic policies, areas where Musk has recently been more outspoken.
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