Musk gave $75m to pro-Trump group, becoming a Republican mega donor

Elon Musk gave around $75m (R1.3bn) to his pro-Donald Trump spending group over three months, federal disclosures showed on Tuesday, underscoring how the billionaire has become crucial to the Republican candidate's efforts to win the November 5 US presidential election.

America PAC, which is focused on turning out voters in closely contested states that could decide the election, spent around $72m (R1.2bn) of that from July to September, according to disclosures filed to the Federal Election Commission.

That is more than any other pro-Trump super political action committee (PAC) focused on turning out voters. The Trump campaign is broadly reliant on outside groups for canvassing voters, meaning the super PAC founded by Musk, the world's richest man,  plays an outsize role in the razor-thin election between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.

Musk, CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla, was the sole donor to the group in that time.

The billionaire, who said he has voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the past, has taken a sharp turn to the right for this election. He endorsed Trump in July and appeared with him at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month.

On Wednesday, Musk said in a post on X he will be “giving a series of talks” throughout Pennsylvania, less than two weeks after his appearance with Trump in the state.

He said people needed to sign a petition on his America PAC website to attend his talks from “tomorrow night through to Monday”.

Last week Reuters reported, quoting a source,  that Musk planned more campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania, considered a crucial state for both Trump and his Democratic opponent vice president Harris in the race for the White House.

Musk's donations to America PAC propel him into the exclusive club of Republican mega donors, a list that includes banking heir Timothy Mellon and casino billionaire Miriam Adelson.

However, Reuters reported earlier this month that Musk has secretly funded a conservative political group for years, well before his public embrace of Trump.

America PAC declined to comment on the Musk donations. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

America PAC is focused on encouraging Americans who like Trump but don't always vote to cast ballots this cycle, a high-risk, labour-intensive strategy by the Trump campaign.

The group, which started its work later in the election than other PACs, has encountered some problems with hiring and its contractors. Since July, it has fired two major contractors it hired to knock on doors.

It has also struggled to hire door knockers in several battleground states in part because by the time the PAC became operational, many other canvassing groups had already staffed up, sources briefed on the issues told Reuters.

The group had around $4m (R70.4m) left on hand by the end of September, the filings show.

Separate filings earlier on Tuesday showed Adelson donated $95m (R1.6bn)  to another pro-Trump super PAC, Preserve America PAC, in the same period.

Reuters