Dohar, May 27, 2025 – On Tuesday, during a virtual interview with the Qatar Economic Forum, Elon Musk said that he plans to scale back his political giving.
“I’m going to do a lot less in the future. I think I’ve done enough,” said Musk, who was the largest individual donor in the 2024 election cycle, shelling out $290 million in support of Donald Trump.
“If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason.”
No wonder: in just four months’ time, the Trump administration has already given Musk plenty of return on his investment.
On the regulatory front, his businesses face less scrutiny as some government investigations into them have been closed, stalled or thrown into disarray, thanks in part to Musk’s own efforts with DOGE to defund and gut multiple federal agencies.
His companies, particularly SpaceX, are positioned to receive billions of dollars in fresh government contracts.
On the global stage, Musk is striking deals and gaining approval to operate in foreign jurisdictions, often with the tacit or explicit support of the Trump administration.
Then there are the personal benefits. Musk is far richer now than he was before endorsing Trump. His net worth stands at $419 billion—approximately $170 billion more than what it was on July 15, just two days after Trump survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, after which Musk endorsed him.
Tesla’s stock price has fallen by 20% since Trump’s return to the White House in late January, but remains 35% higher than in mid-July 2024. SpaceX is now valued at $350 billion, nearly double what it was around the time of Musk’s endorsement.
And his third largest company, xAI Holdings, which now includes his social media platform X and artificial intelligence startup xAI, was valued at $113 billion in its recent merger, more than triple what the two firms were worth a year ago.
Critics of Trump and Musk say that Musk’s involvement in DOGE and relationship with the president is benefitting him financially.
“The nature of Mr. Musk’s businesses, as well as their substantial earnings from government contracts, mean that he is deeply entangled in the regulatory functions of the government he is now empowered to shape,” concluded an April report authored by the Democratic minority members in the U.S. House of Representatives. “President Trump could not have chosen a person more prone to conflicts of interest.”
Trump denies this. “If there’s conflict, then we won’t let him get near it,” the president said in the Oval Office in February. Musk has also denied having conflicts of interest and said he has no role in SpaceX’s applications for government contracts.
“The suggestion that Elon Musk’s companies have somehow benefited from his time at the White House is baseless and lacks journalistic integrity,” said Harrison Fields, Trump’s principal deputy press secretary, in a statement emailed to Forbes. “
Elon’s companies have faced arson, vandalism, gunfire, cyberattacks, boycotts, and personal attacks unprecedented for any American businessman or company.
As stated numerous times, the President will not tolerate any conflicts of interest, and Elon Musk continues to adhere to applicable ethics guidelines in his mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Indeed, not everything has been rosy for Musk under Trump.
The administration’s tariff regime, including 30% tariffs on imports from China, will likely increase supply chain costs for Tesla, SpaceX and xAI. Sales of Tesla vehicles have been slumping across all major markets, in large part due to growing consumer backlash against Musk’s activities with the Department of Government Efficiency.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll of Americans conducted this month found that 58% of respondents held an unfavorable opinion of Musk, compared to 39% who held a favorable one.
Peaceful protestors, as well as vandalizers and arsonists, have targeted Tesla dealerships and showrooms. Musk, who insists that Tesla’s sales are rebounding, told the interviewer in Qatar that he’s taken the blowback personally.
“The work Mr. Musk has done around DOGE has done considerable damage to the Tesla brand, both domestically and internationally, and therefore has cost Mr. Musk dearly,” says Gil Luria, a technology analyst at D.A. Davidson. “The stain on the brand…is almost unprecedented in the automotive industry.”
Even so, Trump has given Musk plenty to smile about. In January, Trump signed an executive order that hampered the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which had been investigating alleged workplace discrimination at Tesla’s factories.
As a result, that investigation into Tesla has been halted, the San Francisco Standard reported.
In March, the president memorably encourage Americans to buy Tesla cars during a sales pitch from the White House lawn.
The all-important question for Tesla’s future growth prospects is the Trump administration’s stance toward partially and fully autonomous cars.
Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened two investigations – the first into Tesla’s full self-driving features, the second into Tesla’s remote self-driving features—which remain ongoing, according to NHTSA’s investigations dashboard and a spokesperson for the agency.
Last month, the Transportation Department eliminated a requirement for automakers with partial and full self-driving features to report certain types of non-fatal crashes.
The rule change benefits Tesla and will hurt Waymo, the fully autonomous vehicle company owned by Alphabet which is already active in several cities and which Tesla aims to compete with, says Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. (Forbes)
