Elon Musk's U-Turn On His Political Views And Donald Trump, Explained

Making sense of Elon Musk's political views can make anyone's head spin. The Tesla founder has flip-flopped between supporting Democrats and Republicans, at one point even labeling himself as a "moderate." To call him wishy-washy is putting it mildly, especially since he's now backing the king of flip-flopping himself: Donald Trump.

Trump, who was once a Democrat and even made donations to the party — likely because it suited his business interests — has had a similarly unpredictable political history. Musk is no different, having donated to both parties over the years. In 2015, Musk dished at a Vanity Fair event that he wanted as little involvement in politics as possible, except where SpaceX was concerned. He even called the idea of Trump winning the Republican nomination "embarrassing," implying the guy wasn't cut out for the Oval Office. But two years later, Musk wrote big checks to the GOP and joined Trump's White House council, only to leave when Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord, a move that clashed with his environmental advocacy.

And then 2022 rolled around, and Musk was back to his unpredictable antics. He publicly blasted Trump, telling him to "hang up his hat & sail into the sunset," but not before announcing he'd vote Republican because Democrats had become "the party of division & hate." A few months later, he restored Trump's account on X (formerly Twitter), while taking every opportunity to drag Joe Biden. By July 2024, after the shocking attempt on Trump's life, Musk finally squashed their beef and went all-in on Team Trump.

Elon Musk's political U-turn for the 2024 presidential elections is nothing short of dramatic. In 2020, Musk proudly voted for Joe Biden. Come 2024, not only is he blasting Biden at every turn, but he's also thrown his weight behind Biden's opponent, Donald Trump. Why the sudden switch? It all boils down to a snub from the Biden administration.

It began in 2021 when Biden's team started pushing their pro-electric vehicle agenda. With Tesla producing the majority of EVs in the U.S., you'd expect Musk to be their go-to guy. Instead, Musk had to approach the White House, only to be shut down. Per The Wall Street Journal, it's likely because Biden was playing nice with the United Auto Workers union, which wasn't too fond of Musk due to Tesla's anti-union stance. To make matters worse, Musk wasn't invited to an EV event, while competitors like General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis were. Biden even downplayed Tesla's market dominance, inaccurately praising GM as the EV leader despite Tesla delivering significantly more vehicles.

Feeling sidelined, Musk did what any billionaire would do — he pivoted and started cozying up to the other team. "In the Biden administration, Musk has been an afterthought at best," Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, explained to The Washington Post. "In the Trump administration, if he won a second term, Musk would be front and center." So, it's no shocker that Musk jumped on his own platform to make a big announcement. On July 13, 2024, he tweeted, "I fully endorse President Trump."

While he once called them "incredible," he also thinks they're "not for everybody," per The New York Times. But this doesn't seem to bother Elon Musk, who's backing Trump primarily for two reasons: immigration and protecting the elections. This is evidenced by his tweet that the Biden-Harris administration is "importing vast numbers of voters" and him catching flak in 2023 for laying off X's already-established election integrity team, claiming they were "undermining election integrity." Uhm, what? "The border and election integrity seem to be the two things he cares about," a source who had spoken to Musk told The Washington Post.

Musk's support for Trump is reportedly so strong that he's rumored to be donating a whopping $45 million to Trump's 2024 campaign, though Musk denied this, clarifying that the Super PAC (Political Action Committee) he established isn't solely for Trump. In a tweet, he clarified, "I am making some donations to America PAC, but at a much lower level and the key values of the Pac are supporting a meritocracy & individual freedom. Republicans are mostly, but not entirely, on the side of merit & freedom."

So, what if Trump doesn't make it to the Oval Office? Despite his concerns about the electoral process and belief that the administration needs a major change, Musk says he'll accept the outcome, even if Kamala Harris wins. When asked by The Atlantic, he replied, "Of course. Don't be jack***."