The End of MAGA Musk Portends a Rough Time for Republicans

Illustration by Will Allen/Europinion

On Tuesday the 20th of May Elon Musk has announced that he will rein in the amount that he spends on political campaigns. Speaking to the Qatar Economic Forum, Musk admitted that he did not “currently see a reason” to keep up the amount of spending that he has given to conservative causes over the best part of a year.

The world’s richest man, whose net-worth stands at a gargantuan $421 billion as of May 2025, has been the US Republican party’s most significant and high-profile donor over the last year. His contributions to the presidential campaign of Donald Trump amounted to a quarter of a billion dollars and transformed the dynamics of key congressional races. 

America PAC, the political action committee that served as a key conduit for Musk’s prolific donations, funded battleground campaigns that turned the tide of marginal races in key swing states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan. In the final two weeks of the presidential race, Musk controversially offered voters in swing states $100 to sign petitions in a bid to drive up turnout, as well as offering $1 million per day to those who signed petitions affirming support “for the First and Second Amendments”.

Musk stated in Tuesday’s interview that “in terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future” and joked that he believes that he has done enough. 

These comments follow a series of unfortunate events for the tech billionaire since gaining significant influence over the Trump administration and the United States federal government more widely since January. He rose to a prominent force in the White House as a co-creator of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) which has sought to raze billions of dollars of perceived waste and shed thousands of federal jobs. DOGE’s chaotic and unpredictable slashes have drawn domestic and international condemnation; the cut of more than 80% of the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) programmes were criticised for endangering children’s health in some Sub-Saharan countries.

His political views and involvement in the Trump administration’s hectic first months has drawn considerable backlash both domestically and internationally. Musk, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, is viewed unfavourably by 58% of respondents compared to 39% who view him positively; although views are deeply partisan with most Republicans viewing him positively while Democrats overwhelmingly view him negatively.

This unpopularity has prompted waves of protests against Tesla, of which Musk is the chief executive officer and largest individual shareholder, across the US and Europe, leading to a 13% drop in sales worldwide. Similarly, following a rally of Tesla’s share value in the wake of Trump’s election, share prices have slumped due to backlash against Musk. 

Musk’s recent woes came to a head after a recent high-profile foray into the Wisconsin Supreme Court election ended in disaster. Brad Schimel, the Musk-backed conservative candidate, failed to flip the crucial state court that could have important effects on up-coming races in the swing-state. The race ended up being the most expensive judicial contest in US history, with $25 of the $100 million spent coming from Musk. Democrats turned the election into a referendum on the first months of the second Trump presidency, DOGE and Musk’s influence over campaigns.

Unsurprisingly, Musk announced that he would be stepping away from DOGE and the administration to spend more time running his myriad of businesses, a shift now complete with today’s announcement of his departure from DC entirely.

Yet, it is likely to be too little too late for Musk. His proximity to DOGE and President Trump has considerably hurt his businesses and irreversibly ruined his image. On Tuesday, Musk reiterated his desire to spend at least another 5 years running Tesla; yet recent reports suggest that Tesla’s board have been exploring appointing a new CEO.

Beyond just his businesses, Musk has also become a liability for those he has supported so fervently over the past year. He has recently clashed with members of Trump’s cabinet, particularly over the recent trade war that has been waged and Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”.

Despite this, many in the MAGA movement had expected that Musk would keep up his huge financial support to Trump-aligned Republicans coming into next year’s congressional mid-terms. Marjorie Taylor Greene had previously declared in November that Musk and America PAC were going to be vital in waging primary challenges against Republicans who did not comply with Trump’s radical agenda. 

However, many Republicans are having to face the possibility that Musk’s support may be counterproductive for their prospects. Now with him reining in his spending, Republicans may be forced to return to more conventional sources of funding and scale up grassroots fundraising ahead of the next set of congressional elections. 

In Trump’s constantly evolving second stint in the Oval Office, Musk’s influence had been declining markedly in recent weeks. The billionaire had gone from being a near-constant fixture in the White House, seemingly everywhere in the new administration’s early days, to a side-lined figure. He was viewed as the weakest link by Republican insiders and a liability for upcoming races, likely remaining so notwithstanding his departure.

His sidelining and now self-withdrawal from the frontlines of American politics presents a conundrum for the right. On one hand, ridding themselves of an unpopular figure who has become an easy target for Democrat attacks appears to be a savvy move ahead of tough contests in next year’s midterms. However, the removal of vital funding poses all sorts of problems for Republicans holding slim majorities that benefitted from Musk’s money. The trifecta of the Republican-controlled White House, Supreme Court and Congress that hands MAGA unprecedented influence rests on a few tight contests that Musk and his PACs’ finances helped to win. 

Regardless, the damage has been done. Even without Elon Musk looming large over the agenda, Democrats can still rail against “Musk-ism”. The real-world harm that Musk has brought to the lives of ordinary Americans and the operations of the US federal government raise questions about the very foundations and ideology of the MAGA movement. Musk will serve as an important issue for Democrats to run on in upcoming elections as one of those to blame for the chaos of recent months. 

Slimming his political spending now does not help either his own business interests or those of the Republican Party or MAGA movement. The fact that he bought his way into having significant influence over the United States government will continue to pose serious problems for Republicans. Pulling spending now will only leave Republicans on the back foot as they try to mitigate the damage of the hectic last few months.