Former President Donald Trump confirmed Monday that he met with Elon Musk in recent days.
Former President Donald Trump confirmed Monday that he met with Elon Musk but said he’s not sure if the billionaire Tesla CEO will back his reelection bid.
Last week, several media outlets reported that the pair met at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, although few details have been released. Those reports claimed that President Trump held the meeting due to his campaign’s alleged cashflow issues and because of his mounting legal fees.
“I don’t know. I’ve been friendly with him over the years,” President Trump told CNBC. “I’ve helped him; when I was president I, helped him. I’ve liked him. We obviously have opposing views on a minor subject called electric cars,” he added. “I’m all for electric cars, but you have to have all the alternatives also.”
After the reports surfaced, in post on X, Mr. Musk wrote that he would not be donating money to either campaign as president.
“Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President,” Mr. wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, in a post last week. He did not confirm whether he met with the former president.
Since purchasing the social media website in 2022, Mr. Musk has removed suspensions for a number of prominent conservatives, including President Trump’s account after it was banned in January 2021.
But President Trump has not returned to X, where he used his account extensively during the 2016 election. The only post he’s made in more than three years was in 2023 when he posted his mugshot after being arrested in Fulton County, Georgia. Instead, he frequently uses his own platform Truth Social.
While Mr. Musk wrote that he voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, he told his followers to vote for Republicans during the 2022 midterm elections, he also signaled that he would do the same in 2024.
On X, the Tesla CEO has also boosted some conservative accounts and has increasingly expressed critical views of the Biden administration, and, like President Trump, he has been highly critical of illegal immigration.
