Elon Musk on Tuesday said he will spend “a lot less” on future elections, after the Tesla and SpaceX boss spent more than $290 million during the 2024 election cycle to help President Trump and other Republicans win.
“I think I’ve done enough,” Musk said, while speaking virtually at the Qatar Economic Forum.
The X owner added, “If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I don’t currently see a reason.”
Musk publicly backed President Trump last summer, following the attempted assassination against him in Pennsylvania. He then financially backed the Trump campaign and other Republicans, largely via his super PAC, dubbed America PAC, and joined Trump on the campaign trail.
Their close relationship has continued since Trump returned to office, with Musk spearheading the new Department of Government Efficiency since January. On Tuesday, Musk said DOGE has cut about $160 billion in annual government spending. The world’s richest man said he will scale back helping the Trump Administration this month in order to focus on Tesla and his other businesses.
Musk’s work for the Trump Administration led to many violent protestors attacking Tesla dealerships earlier this year, while videos of Teslas getting keyed and other forms of vandalism routinely went viral on X, the platform Musk bought in 2022. Tesla’s stock price also took a big hit in the opening months of 2025, although it has made a furious rally in the past month and is now down about 8% on the year.
Musk, when asked by Bloomberg’s Mishal Husain if he took the attacks on Tesla personally, responded with a one word answer: “Yes.”
When Husain then asked if he regretted his push into politics, Musk paused for several seconds before answering, “I did what needed to be done.”
“I’m not someone who’s ever committed violence, and yet, massive violence was committed against my companies, massive violence was threatened against me,” Musk continued. “Who are these people? Why would they do that? How wrong can they be? They’re on the wrong the wrong side of history, and that’s an evil thing to do.”
