Tesla CEO Elon Musk met with former President Donald Trump on Sunday in Palm Beach, Florida, along with unnamed wealthy Republican donors, the New York Times reported, citing three people familiar with the meeting.
Trump is courting donors as he prepares for the general election campaign against President Joe Biden. It is not yet clear whether Musk will financially support Trump or endorse his 2024 election campaign.
Musk and a Trump campaign representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump and Musk's private planes were seen landing within less than an hour of each other at Palm Beach Airport on March 2. The planes' whereabouts were first reported online through a service known as Elon Jet, which uses publicly available data. To track more than 125 planes belonging to politicians, celebrities and CEOs.
In September 2023, Musk visited the White House to discuss artificial intelligence technology, but did not meet with Biden at that time.
Musk, who owns X and operates defense contractor SpaceX as well as Tesla, did not endorse Trump in his 2016 or 2020 election campaigns.
The two had their share of clashes.
In June 2017, Musk stepped down from then-President Trump's advisory boards, citing the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords.
In 2022, Trump called Musk a “bull artist,” claiming that the Tesla CEO said he voted for Trump in private conversations between them. Musk has publicly denied the claim and said the first time he voted for a Republican was Mayra Flores in a special election in Texas that year.
Musk has publicly expressed his criticism of Trump and Biden.
“I don't hate the guy, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat and ride off into the sunset,” Musk wrote in a July 2022 tweet. “Democrats should also call off the attack — don't do it,” he added. “So the only way for Trump to survive is to regain the presidency.”
Trump said in a post on Truth Social at the time that Musk had come to the White House seeking help “with all of his many backed projects, whether it's electric cars that don't drive long enough, self-driving cars that crash, or rocket ships that don't go.” to anyplace”. “.
Since Musk acquired Twitter and renamed it X, he has become more outspoken about his political ideology. He has also appeared more alongside right-wing political leaders around the world.
In May 2022, Musk accused the Biden administration of doing “everything in its power to marginalize and ignore” Tesla, despite its dominance of the electric car industry.
In November 2022, after Musk bought Twitter with the help of funding from Saudi Arabia, President Biden was asked whether Musk posed a potential national security threat. “His cooperation and/or technical relations with other countries are worth considering,” Biden said.
Last year, Musk said he was “leaning” toward voting for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. But DeSantis suspended his campaign in January and announced his endorsement of Trump ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
At the DealBook Summit in November, Musk said, “I will not vote for Biden.”
“I'm not saying I'm going to vote for Trump,” he said. He also described Nikki Haley, who is running against Trump in the Republican primary, as a “pro-control” candidate.
On Tuesday, Musk posted on X to criticize the Biden administration's handling of immigration in the United States, while simultaneously expressing his support for Republican candidates including Marty O'Donnell, the famous video game music composer, who is running as a Republican for Congress in Nevada. and to Jeremy Celestin, a candidate for district attorney in Austin, Texas.
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