Trump, Musk alliance may threaten Harris in 2024 election | Real Time Headlines

Nashville, Tenn. — Former President Donald TrumpThe most anticipated keynote Bitcoin This year’s party started more than an hour late.

As investors, enthusiasts and the crypto-curious at the Nashville Bitcoin Conference grow increasingly agitated, Musk‘s private jet was landing 200 miles away in Memphis, Tennessee.

That was July 27, just two weeks after Trump suffered an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. A few hours later, he was already Public recognition Depend on Tesla Re-elected as CEO.

Rumors had circulated throughout the week at Nashville’s Music City Center that Musk would make a surprise appearance at the conference and possibly even host a fireside chat with Trump.

Musk didn’t show up, but he was very present.

“I love Elon. He’s great,” Trump told the crowd. “He gave me a lot of support and everything, but not everyone has to have an electric car.”

However, Trump’s remarks in Nashville were markedly toned down from his remarks to Musk at a rally in Michigan a week ago.

“I love Elon Musk… We have to let our smart people live good lives. He’s just as smart as you,” Trump said at the time. “He gives me $45 million a month! Come on. Not $45 million. He gives me $45 million One month.

He continued, “I mean other people, they give you $2, you have to take them to lunch, you have to give them wine and food.”

So what happened between Michigan on July 20 and Nashville on July 27 to dampen Trump’s outpouring of praise? The answer seems simple: On July 22, Musk denied the scope of the promise.

“What’s being reported in the media is simply not true,” Musk told podcaster Jordan Peterson. “I will not donate $45 million a month to Trump.” On July 25, Musk posted on X, the social media company he owns, that he was donating to a political action committee that supports Trump, “but the amount Much lower.”

The relationship between Musk, the world’s richest man, and Republican presidential candidate Trump is as rocky as the characters themselves. For years they made fun of each other, put each other down and took opposing stances on key issues. But more recently, they have emerged as parallel heroes for the far-right, a group that includes a large number of cryptocurrency enthusiasts and is united in pursuit of one goal: defeating the Democrats in 2024.

The extent to which Musk is willing to financially support Trump’s campaign, now running against Vice President Kamala Harris, is another matter. Musk formed a super PAC called USA PAC days after endorsing Trump, but it’s unclear how much he contributed, the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office said Monday. Staring at the group This follows complaints that the company collects personal data while failing to commit to helping users register to vote.

The Federal Election Commission website shows that American PACs have limited financial contributions. federal filing list total expenditure From April 1 to June 30, the funds amounted to US$7.78 million, mainly used in two transactions: US$3.87 million was used to “support” Trump, and the same amount of money was used to “oppose” President Joe Biden.

Based on Trump’s social media comments, more information about their relationship may soon emerge. Trump posted on “Truth Social” on Tuesday that the two would speak publicly next week.

“I will be conducting a major interview with Elon Musk on Monday night – stay tuned for details!” Trump wrote.

Musk did not respond to a request for comment for this article. Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump presidential campaign, said in an email: “Stay tuned! Very exciting stuff!”

As recently as 2022, Musk and Trump were in trouble. open feudopenly insulting each other on social media, at political rallies and elsewhere.

“I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail off into the sunset,” Musk wrote in a 2022 social media post.

That same year, Trump called Musk a “bull artist,” claiming the tech executive privately told him he voted for him.

What is clear is that Musk will not support Biden’s re-election.

Musk said he voted for Biden in 2020, but the president excluded Musk the following year. Electric Vehicle Summit He met with senior executives from the United States at the White House General Motors, Ford and Strantis. Musk wrote in an article tweet“, “Yeah, it seems strange that Tesla wasn’t invited.

Biden is a pro-labor president, and Tesla does not belong to a union and has violated federal labor laws.

By 2022, as talk of the 2024 election heated up, Musk said he was leaning toward Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis finally launches presidential campaign in May 2023 live streaming On the X that Musk owns. Musk’s livestream with old friend David Sachs was a technological disaster, riddled with glitches. DeSantis’ campaign failed and officially ended in January.

Two months later, Musk reportedly visited Trump’s office Mar-a-Lago Florida resort where Trump was trying to drum up support from donors. in a Interview with CNBC “Squawk Box” on March 11Trump spoke positively of Musk, saying he had “been friendly with him over the years,” “helped him” when he was president and “liked him.”

“We obviously have opposing views on the little issue of electric vehicles,” Trump told CNBC’s Joe Kernen. “I’m all for electric vehicles, but you have to have all the alternatives,” he said, adding that electric vehicles “cost too much and they will all be made in China.”

Whatever differences the two men may have on electric vehicles, they are increasingly aligned politically. Both described Harris as a communist and prone to lashing out at anything involving DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion. They are outspoken in their opposition to transgender rights. Both spread false reports about noncitizens voting in U.S. elections.

Former Ford CEO Mark Fields said this is more than just a political issue for Musk. Several of Musk’s companies — Tesla, aerospace and defense contractor SpaceX, social media company X and artificial intelligence startup xAI — have many projects that need help from the White House.

“The bottom line is, there are a lot of benefits to having a positive relationship with the president, not just potential benefits for areas like Tesla, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence or robotics, but also,” Fields told CNBC’s Bryan in a July interview. It’s also good for his other businesses, like SpaceX, “You can say to the president, ‘Hey, you know Boeing is a convicted felon, so give me the majority of your business. ‘”

Trump also said he would high tariffs Tesla faces increasing competition in China.

Fields said Musk “knows he’s likely to take a tougher stance on China, which could help them in the U.S. because that’s one of their largest and most profitable markets.”

In Atlanta on Saturday, Trump continued the theme, telling the audience that he “For electric vehicles.” He added, “You know, I had to do it because Elon was so strongly supportive of me. So, I had no choice.”

Musk, meanwhile, has been moving to the right politically for years, and not just in the United States. Javier MileyFormer Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Indian Prime Minister Modi visited Capitol Hill in July at the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Netanyahu delivered a speech to Congress about the Gaza War.

Despite Musk’s public support for Trump, he appears to be sticking to his promise not to donate directly to candidates this election cycle, instead going the political action committee route.

instead, Musk is using X to promote his preferred candidates to his 193 million followers.

On the day Trump gave his speech in Nashville, Musk wrote “Save our kids!” There’s also a video of Trump in West Palm Beach, Florida, saying he will sign an executive order cutting federal funding for schools and “promoting critical race theory” and “trans madness.” .

And then there are Musk retweets parody of Kamala Harris campaign ad. The video makes it sound like Harris said she was chosen because she was “the ultimate diversity employee.” The video was not flagged as misleading, which would appear to be against the platform’s rules.

While Trump has considerable support in the tech sector, far beyond Musk’s support, many in the industry quickly rallied around Harris. As of this week, more than 750 venture capital and related individuals have signed the agreement “Kamala’s Venture” The commitment was first announced on July 31.

in a Financial Times op-ed On Monday, legendary venture capitalist Mike Moritz took aim at Trump’s supporters in Silicon Valley, saying they “made a big mistake.”

“I suspect they were seduced by the notion that with their leverage they would be able to control Trump,” Moritz wrote. “And I think they made another big mistake: deceiving themselves. Think he won’t do what he says or promises.”

— CNBC’s Brian Schwartz and Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.