Elon Musk says he will cut back on political spending after heavily backing Trump in 2024

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk, the richest person in the world and a key financial supporter of President Donald Trump, said Tuesday that he'll be spending ''a lot less'' on political campaigns, a reversal that could be a setback for Republicans ahead of next year's midterm elections.

Musk disclosed his decision via videoconference during a Bloomberg forum in Doha, Qatar. It speaks to his possible disenchantment with politics after his tumultuous tenure as Trump's pick to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which has fallen far short of its goals for reducing federal spending. Musk has scaled back his government role to spend more time at his businesses, including Tesla, which have seen intense blowback. Tesla reported a big drop in profits in the first quarter.

''In terms of political spending I'm going to do a lot less in the future,'' Musk said. Asked why, he responded that ''I think I've done enough.''

Musk's statement marks a reversal of the course he had set during the 2024 campaign — when he was among the very top political spenders — and immediately after.

Musk spent at least $250 million supporting Trump in the presidential campaign, as the main contributor to America PAC, a super PAC that was active in advertising and funding door-to-door canvassing groups across the seven most-competitive states in the November presidential election.

Musk relished in the publicity, campaigning alongside Trump at times and headlining some of his own campaign rallies on the GOP nominee's behalf.

And while he took credit for helping Trump return to the White House, Musk suffered a public defeat in April, after he became deeply involved in a Wisconsin Supreme Court campaign. Musk-backed groups America PAC and Rebuilding America's Future spent more than $21 million on the April 1 election in support of the Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel.

But Schimel's defeat by 10 percentage points in Wisconsin, a state Trump carried just five months earlier, was a blow to Musk, who campaigned for Schimel in Green Bay the weekend before the election and had also pledged to enforce Trump's agenda in the 2026 midterm elections.

A week after Trump's November victory, Musk said the political action committees he supported would ''play a significant role in primaries,'' adding later that he might help finance Republican challengers to GOP members of Congress who did not support Trump's nominees.

''How else? There is no other way,'' Musk wrote on X, which he rebranded after purchasing Twitter, in response to the suggestion of supporting intraparty challenges.

An adviser to Musk's PACs declined to comment Tuesday.

Once Trump took office, Musk held a prominent role as an adviser and leader of DOGE. He and his acolytes in the department fanned out widely across the federal government to enact deep cuts to the workforce and spending, in some cases seeking to shutter entire agencies altogether.

DOGE has pushed to fire tens of thousands of workers in downsizing at agencies, ranging from the IRS to Health and Human Services, and pressured tens of thousands more to take buyout and early retirement offers. And they sought to shut down agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

With backing from DOGE, agencies have cancelled tens of thousands of government contracts and grants that they say do not align with the administration's priorities. Some of those moves were done so quickly that they had to be reversed after pushback or court rulings finding that they were illegal.

Critics say it amounts to a reckless chain-saw approach that could destroy much of the nation's apolitical civil service, impair services for vulnerable populations, and halt critical research.

DOGE claims on its ''Wall of Receipts'' it has saved an estimated $170 billion, but those savings numbers have been shown to be flawed and inflated in many cases.

Musk's role prompted intense pushback, including protests at his electric vehicle company, Tesla. Speaking to reporters earlier this month as he prepared to step back from DOGE, Musk noted the backlash.

''Being attacked relentlessly is not super fun,'' he said. ''Seeing cars burning is not fun,'' he added, referring to the instances of Tesla cars being smashed or set on fire.

Musk's announced intention to step back from political spending comes during multiple new business opportunities, including a deal to host the latest versions of his Grok artificial intelligence chatbot on Microsoft's data centers.

Meanwhile, his brain-computer interface company Neuralink is planning to implant its experimental devices in dozens more people and his electric-vehicle company Tesla is developing a humanoid robot that Musk hopes to one day send to Mars.

Musk could change his mind about campaign spending. The 2026 midterm campaigns are just getting off the ground, while some candidates have not yet announced their candidacy for elections that remain 18 months away.

But as of Tuesday, Musk said he did not expect to.

''Well, if I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it," Musk said. "I do not currently see a reason.''

————————————————————————————————— Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa. Ali Swenson and Jill Colvin in New York City contributed to this report.