Musk slows down political spending as he focuses on Tesla: NPR

Elon Musk speaks at a town hall meeting in Green Bay, Wisconsin on March 30, 2025. He invested millions of dollars before a Supreme Court election, only to see his first-choice candidate lose. The billionaire announced Tuesday that he plans to spend less money on future politics. Scott Olson/Getty Images Closed subtitles

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Elon Musk, the largest donor of the presidential campaign of 2024, said Tuesday that he plans to reduce his political spending.

"I will do much less in the future," he said in a video interview with Bloomberg News at the Qatar Economic Forum. "I think I've done enough."

Asked about the fact that less political spending was driven by any counterattack he was weathered in the Trump administration, Musk said: "If I find out there is a reason for political spending in the future. I will do it. But I don't see a reason at the moment."

Musk, the world's wealthiest man, has invested nearly $300 million in President Trump's campaign, becoming the president's top political donor and symbolic effective ally.

Trump promoted Musk to a key figure in the White House, and Musk ruled the discussion at a cabinet meeting, watching it with caution.

Musk appeared with the president at the Oval Office to promote his work at the U.S. threshold service company, an initiative that actively focused on pruning federal spending, laid off thousands of government employees and helped relax the entire agency.

This effort has caused rigorous scrutiny. Researchers and good groups question whether Doge actually cuts “waste, fraud, abuse.” The department's public accounting for savings is often bound by exaggerated, double counting and other inconsistent attitudes.

Public polls show that Musk's door efforts are unpopular and voters are more opposed to Musk than Trump.

Last month, Musk's celebrity and wealth didn't help the Republicans win the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, with millions of dollars pouring in and trying to use his image as a technical executive to win the state's top judicial seat. But it backfired. Analysts say Musk's participation becomes a political responsibility as Democrats use it to voters against billionaires.

In a recent call with Tesla investors, Musk said his sales and profits were in trouble in the first three months of the year, saying he was turning his mature White House show into a part-time job to refocus his energy on struggling electric car companies.

Musk's commitment to Tesla - the biggest source of his personal wealth - Wall Street Journal The company's board of directors has begun a process that may replace Musk's CEO, the report said.

This may be another sign that Musk has slowly faded out of Washington. But he hasn't completely disappeared. For example, Musk said Tuesday that he will attend a dinner with Trump on Wednesday, proving that executives are still in Trump’s inner circle, even if his prominence appears to be fading.