Why Did Elon Musk Meet With Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago?

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump recently met with Elon Musk at Mar-a-Lago to discuss a potential "cash infusion" for his presidential campaign.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Musk visited Trump's Florida estate as the former president seeks a major "cash infusion" for his campaign.

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The report explained:

Donald Trump, who is urgently seeking a cash infusion to aid his presidential campaign, met on Sunday in Palm Beach, Fla., with Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest men, and a few wealthy Republican donors, according to three people briefed on the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private discussion.

Mr. Trump and his team are working to find additional major donors to shore up his finances as he heads into an expected general election against President Biden. Mr. Trump has praised Mr. Musk to allies and hopes to have a one-on-one meeting with the billionaire soon, according to a person who has discussed the matter with Mr. Trump.

The two men have their own history and have previously sparred over social media, raising questions as to whether Musk would give him any money. 

However, the Times notes that Musk is now of the firm belief that Joe Biden be defeated in November and that would leave Trump as the only alternative option:

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It’s not yet clear whether Mr. Musk plans to spend any of his fortune on Mr. Trump’s behalf. But his recent social media posts suggest he thinks it’s essential that Mr. Biden be defeated in November — and people who have spoken to Mr. Musk privately confirmed that is indeed his view.

...

A person close to Mr. Musk said his relationship with the government had historically made him wary about identifying too closely with one political party over the other. In 2017, the billionaire famously stepped away from two business advisory councils when Mr. Trump was president over Mr. Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement.

That person added that if Musk were to get behind Trump, Musk's concerns about the ongoing flood of illegal immigrants would have been a "significant motivator" behind his decision. 

Just yesterday, Musk expressed his view that America will collapse unless it gains back the control over its borders that has been effectively lost since Joe Biden took office in January 2021. 

"America will fall if it tries to absorb the world. That is why I am banging the drum so much about this issue," he wrote in response to an X post from conservative influencer Ashley St Clair. "America is only 4% of Earth’s population. If even 1% of the rest of Earth moved here, we would be swamped."

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Yet as the Times notes, even if Musk does not end up donating to Trump's campaign, the megaphone provided by his 175 million followers on X gives him the freedom to shape the political narrative in a way that few others can. 

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