The Elon Musk effect – how Donald Trump gained from the billionaire's support

When Donald Trump declared his "magnificent victory" as the results of the United States presidential election began to become even clearer, he reserved special praise for a man who has helped catapult him into the country's top job.

"A star is born, Elon," he said in a speech in West Palm Beach, Florida, referring to his biggest ally in the race to become president: the billionaire owner of Tesla, SpaceX and X (former Twitter), Elon Musk.

Musk has indeed played a tremendous role in Trump's comeback, not only pumping millions of dollars into Trump's campaign, but also serving as an adviser and policy promoter, effectively turning his media platform around. social X in a Make America Great Again (MAGA) spokesperson.

"The future will be fantastic," Musk wrote on X as it became clear that Trump would return to the White House, the Telegraph reports.

The billionaire star could indeed rise to the top under Trump, who previously suggested his ally could become the "secretary of cost-cutting" in his cabinet.

Experts have warned that Musk, whose Space X already has influence as a major government defense contractor, could end up "fixing the regulators".

As things unravel, here's everything you need to know about how the world's richest man helped engineer one of the most interesting political comebacks in history.

How did Musk use his money and influence to put Trump back in charge and why?

To be clear, billionaires played a bigger role than ever in the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns.

Microsoft's Bill Gates and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg both endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

But it was Musk's outpouring of support for Trump that really made the difference.

Musk donated about $132 million to Trump and other Republicans in the run-up to the 2024 election, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) last month in its final disclosures before Election Day.

Two of the largest donations — $43.6 million and $75 million — went directly to the "Trump campaign machine," specifically the PAC (political action committee) created by Musk himself.

Controversially, Musk launched a giveaway in key states, offering registered voters who agreed to sign a "petition" the chance to win $1 million a day.

"We're going to randomly award $1 million to people who signed the petition, every day, from now until the election," Musk said at a campaign event on Oct. 19.

The move was challenged in a Pennsylvania court after the US Department of Justice warned the group could violate election laws.

However, judges later ruled that the operation could go ahead.

FEC filings also showed that Musk gave $10 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, a PAC with a mandate to "protect and expand the Republican Senate majority," potentially helping Republicans regain control of the Senate in this election.

Musk also allegedly made other unreported donations to Republicans.

Why has Musk made an alliance with Trump?

A powerful amalgamation of their fan bases strengthened the alliance between Trump and Musk.

Not long ago, "there was no love between the couple".

In 2022, Trump called Musk a "m*** artist" after he allegedly lied about his support in the 2016 election.

Musk responded on Twitter at the time, saying it was "time for Trump to retire."

Perhaps surprisingly, two years later, the tech mogul stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, wearing a black MAGA hat.

Musk's "right turn" is sometimes attributed to the government-imposed shutdown of his Tesla factories during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, he reopened a factory in Fremont, California, declaring that he was ready to be arrested, taking a stand against "tainted bureaucracy".

His shift to the right has since become evident in his dealings with anti-regulatory leaders such as Argentine President Javier Milei.

Musk has also reached out to international right-wing leaders such as Italy's Giorgia Meloni, India's Narendra Modi and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu. /Telegraph/