Tesla CEO Elon Musk met with former President Donald Trump on Sunday in Palm Beach, Florida, along with unnamed wealthy Republican donors, The New York Times reported, citing three people briefed on the meeting.
Trump is courting donors as he prepares for a general election campaign against President Joe Biden. It is not yet clear whether Musk will financially support or support Trump and his 2024 campaign.
Musk and a Trump campaign representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On March 2, Trump and Musk’s private jets were spotted landing at an airport in Palm Beach less than an hour apart. The jets’ whereabouts were first reported online by the service known as “Elon Jet,” which uses publicly available data to track more than 125 jets of politicians, celebrities and executives.
In September 2023, Musk visited the White House to discuss artificial intelligence technology, but did not meet with Biden at that time.
Musk, who owns X and runs the defense company SpaceX alongside Tesla, did not support Trump in his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.
The two had some arguments.
In June 2017, Musk left then President Trump’s advisory council, citing his withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement.
In 2022, Trump called Musk a “bull artist” and claimed that the Tesla CEO said in private conversations between them that he voted for Trump. Musk publicly denied that claim, saying the first time he voted for a Republican in a special election in Texas this year was Mayra Flores.
Musk has publicly criticized Trump and Biden.
“I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail off into the sunset,” Musk wrote in a July 2022 tweet. “Democrats should call off the attack too – don’t make it so that Trump’s only way to survive is to win back the presidency.”
Trump said in a post on Truth Social at the time that Musk had asked the White House for help “with all of his many subsidized projects,” be they electric cars that don’t run long enough, self-driving cars that crash, or rocket ships that go nowhere fly .”
Since taking over Twitter and renaming it X, Musk has been more vocal about his political ideology. He also frequently appeared alongside right-wing political leaders around the world.
In May 2022, Musk accused the Biden administration of “doing everything in its power to sideline” and ignore Tesla despite its dominance in the electric vehicle industry.
In November 2022, after Musk bought Twitter with Saudi Arabia’s backing, President Biden was asked whether Musk posed a potential threat to national security. Biden said its “cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries are worth investigating.”
Last year, Musk said he was leaning toward voting for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But DeSantis paused his campaign in January and endorsed Trump shortly before the New Hampshire primary.
At the DealBook Summit in November, Musk said, “I wouldn’t vote for Biden.”
“I’m not saying I would vote for Trump,” he said. He also called Nikki Haley, who is running against Trump in the Republican primary, a “proponent of censorship.”
On Tuesday, Musk posted on and for Jeremy Sylestine, a candidate for district attorney in Austin, Texas.
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2024-03-06 02:32:23
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