Tesla CEO Elon Musk met with former President Donald Trump on Sunday in Palm Seashore, Florida, together with unnamed rich Republican donors, The New York Occasions reported, citing three individuals briefed on the assembly.
Trump is courting donors as he gears up for a common election marketing campaign in opposition to President Joe Biden. It is not but clear whether or not Musk will financially again or endorse Trump and his 2024 marketing campaign.
Musk and a consultant for Trump’s marketing campaign did not instantly reply to requests for remark.
Non-public jets belonging to Trump and Musk had been noticed touchdown inside lower than an hour of each other at a Palm Seashore airport on March 2. The planes’ whereabouts had been first reported on-line by the service often known as “Elon Jet,” which makes use of publicly out there information to trace greater than 125 jets belonging to politicians, celebrities and executives.
In September 2023, Musk visited the White Home to debate synthetic intelligence expertise, however he did not meet with Biden at the moment.
Musk, who owns the social media platform X and runs protection contractor SpaceX along with Tesla, did not endorse Trump in his 2016 or 2020 campaigns.
The 2 have had their share of clashes.
In June 2017, Musk deserted advisory councils of then-President Trump, citing his withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris local weather accord.
In 2022, Trump known as Musk a “bulls— artist,” claiming the Tesla CEO stated he voted for Trump in non-public conversations between them. Musk publicly denied that declare and stated the primary time he voted for a Republican was Mayra Flores in a particular election in Texas that yr.
Musk has publicly voiced criticisms of Trump and Biden.
“I do not hate the person, however it’s time for Trump to hold up his hat & sail into the sundown,” Musk wrote in a tweet in July 2022. “Dems also needs to name off the assault — do not make it in order that Trump’s solely option to survive is to regain the Presidency.”
Trump stated in a publish on Fact Social at the moment that Musk got here to the White Home for assist “on all of his many backed tasks, whether or not it is electrical automobiles that do not drive lengthy sufficient, driverless automobiles that crash, or rocketships to nowhere.”
Since Musk acquired Twitter and rebranded it as X, he is change into extra vocal about his political ideology. He is additionally made extra appearances alongside right-wing political leaders all over the world.
In Might 2022, Musk accused the Biden administration of doing “all the things it will probably to sideline” and ignore Tesla, regardless of its dominance within the electrical automobile trade.
In November 2022, after Musk purchased Twitter with the help of funding from Saudi Arabia, Biden was requested whether or not Musk was a possible menace to nationwide safety. Biden stated his “cooperation and/or technical relationships with different nations is worthy of being checked out.”
Final yr, Musk stated he was “leaning” towards voting for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. However DeSantis suspended his marketing campaign in January, endorsing Trump simply earlier than the New Hampshire major.
On the DealBook Summit in November, Musk stated, “I’d not vote for Biden.”
“I am not saying I might vote for Trump,” he stated. He additionally characterised Nikki Haley, who’s working in opposition to Trump within the Republican major, as a “pro-censorship” candidate.
On Tuesday, Musk posted on X to bash the Biden administration’s dealing with of immigration within the U.S. He concurrently voiced help for Republican candidates together with Marty O’Donnell, a composer of music for in style video video games, who’s working as a Republican for Congress in Nevada, and for Jeremy Sylestine, a district lawyer candidate in Austin, Texas.
Do not miss these tales from CNBC PRO:
WATCH: Elon Musk may face uphill battle in OpenAI case
