Jump to content

Draft:Political activities of Elon Musk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elon Musk with president-elect Donald Trump on a private plane in November 2024.

Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, Tesla, and X, has engaged in political activities in the United States and internationally.

Argentina

[edit]

Following the 2023 Argentine general election, Musk congratulated Javier Milei for his victory, writing that "prosperity is ahead for Argentina."[1] Prior to his inauguration, Musk met with Milei; in a televised interview, Milei said that Musk was "extremely interested in lithium."[2] In February 2024, Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones authorized Starlink, among other satellite internet providers, to operate in the country.[3] Milei has sought to encourage lithium investment in Argentina,[4] including a law that would give foreign investors in the mining industry tax cuts and various benefits for thirty years.[5] In April, Milei and Musk met at a Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, in which they agreed to hold a "big event" in Argentina to promote freedom;[6] The Wall Street Journal noted that the meeting followed praise that Musk offered for Milei, including for his speech at the World Economic Forum, as he sought to strengthen relations to gain access to Argentina's lithium resources and the country's approval for Starlink.[7] According to then-ambassador to the United States Gerardo Werthein, Milei and Musk discussed lithium during the meeting.[8] In May, Musk posted, "I recommend investing in Argentina," on X, after meeting with Milei in Los Angeles for an investors conference.[9]

Brazil

[edit]

China

[edit]

Germany

[edit]

In December 2024, Musk publicly endorsed Alternative for Germany, a far-right political party, in the 2025 German federal election, writing, "Only the AfD can save Germany."[10] Later that month, he authored an op-ed in Welt am Sonntag, arguing that "traditional parties have failed". In response, Eva Marie Kogel, the paper's head of opinion, resigned.[11] Christiane Hoffmann, a deputy government spokeswoman, accused Musk of attempting to influence the federal election.[12] In his New Year's Eve address, chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the election will "not be decided by the owners of social media channels."[13]

France

[edit]

India

[edit]
Musk speaking on Narenda Modi in June 2023
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Italy

[edit]

Israel

[edit]

In September 2023, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Musk at a Tesla factory in Fremont, California.[14] In November, Musk and Netanyahu toured Kfar Aza, a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas during the October 7 attacks.[15]

Russia

[edit]

Turkey

[edit]

Ukraine

[edit]

United Kingdom

[edit]

In December 2024, the leader of the right-wing populist party Reform UK, Nigel Farage, stated that the party was discussing a donation from Musk after they met at Mar-a-Lago with party treasurer Nick Candy.[16] The negotiations were denounced by Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, who stated that the donation would be "counterproductive".[17] In an interview with The Telegraph that month, Farage argued that Musk could court the youth vote for the party and assist in defeating the Conservative Party.[18]

United States

[edit]

Prior to the 2016 United States presidential election, Musk donated to Hillary Clinton[19] and later said he voted for her.[20] In November 2016, Musk criticized Donald Trump as "not the right guy" in an interview with CNBC. The following month, Trump appointed Musk to his Strategic and Policy Forum.[21] By January 2017, Musk had met with Trump at Trump Tower to argue for the SpaceX Mars colonization program.[22] That month, he told Gizmodo that he was among several "voices of reason" for Trump.[23] In June, he resigned from his positions on Trump's advisory councils after the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement.[24] Musk donated US$50,000 to an organization benefiting Republican members of the House of Representatives and an additional US$38,900 to a separate group ahead of the 2018 House of Representatives elections, defending his decision in order to "maintain dialogue".[25] The following year, he offered an endorsement of Andrew Yang's presidential campaign[26] and tacitly supported Kanye West's campaign in the 2020 presidential election, but said that he attempted to convince West to postpone his campaign in an interview with Maureen Dowd.[27] Speaking to Kara Swisher in September 2020, Musk considered voting for Trump if Joe Biden was not a viable candidate,[28] though he later said he voted for Biden.[20]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Nicas, Jack (November 19, 2023). "Argentina Elects Javier Milei in Victory for Far Right". The New York Times. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  2. ^ "Milei: Elon Musk 'extremely' interested in Argentina's lithium". Buenos Aires Herald. December 26, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  3. ^ "Government authorizes Starlink and Amazon's Kuiper to operate in Argentina". Buenos Aires Herald. February 26, 2024. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  4. ^ Meseguer, Berta (April 20, 2024). "Milei busca inversiones para el litio frente a la resistencia de las comunidades indígenas" [Milei seeks investments for lithium in face of resistance from indigenous communities]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  5. ^ Centenera, Mar (April 30, 2024). "Milei logra su primer triunfo en el Congreso con una versión recortada de su ley de desguace del Estado" [Milei wins his first victory in Congress with a trimmed-down version of his state-scrapping bill]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  6. ^ Lagos, Anna (April 12, 2024). "Elon Musk y Javier Milei acuerdan realizar "un gran evento" en Argentina "para fomentar las ideas de la libertad"" [Elon Musk and Javier Milei agree to hold "a big event" in Argentina "to promote the ideas of freedom"]. Wired (in Spanish). Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  7. ^ Dubé, Ryan (April 11, 2024). "Elon Musk Bromance With Argentine President Leads to First Meeting". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  8. ^ "El embajador argentino contó detalles del viaje de Milei y reveló una frase de Elon Musk" [Argentine ambassador told details of Milei's trip and revealed a quote from Elon Musk]. La Nación (in Spanish). April 12, 2024. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  9. ^ "Elon Musk calls to invest in Argentina after meeting up with Milei in LA". Buenos Aires Herald. May 7, 2024. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  10. ^ Schuetze, Christopher; Landler, Mark (December 20, 2024). "Musk Expresses Support for Far-Right Party in Germany's Election". The New York Times. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  11. ^ Schuetze, Christopher (December 20, 2024). "Musk Doubles Down on Support for German Far-Right Party". The New York Times. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  12. ^ Brady, Kate (December 30, 2024). "Germany accuses Musk of trying to influence election by backing far-right AfD". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  13. ^ Brössler, Daniel (December 31, 2024). "Scholz: Zusammenhalten in schwieriger Zeit" [Scholz: Sticking together in difficult times]. Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  14. ^ Kingsley, Patrick (September 18, 2023). "Benjamin Netanyahu and Elon Musk Meet, as Both Seek to Deflect Criticism". The New York Times. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  15. ^ Mpoke Bigg, Matthew; Mac, Ryan (November 27, 2023). "Elon Musk Visits Israel Amid Backlash Against His Endorsement of Antisemitic Post". The New York Times. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  16. ^ "Musk in talks over Reform UK donation, says Farage". BBC News. December 17, 2024. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  17. ^ Parker, George; Kelly, Maxine (December 23, 2024). "Donation by Elon Musk to Reform UK would be 'counterproductive', says Tory leader". Financial Times. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  18. ^ Stanley, Tim (December 27, 2024). "Farage: Musk will help Reform to beat Tories". The Telegraph. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  19. ^ Ferenstein, Gregory (May 31, 2016). "Tech billionaires like Democrats more than Republicans. Here's why". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  20. ^ a b Ingram, David (August 30, 2024). "Elon Musk says voting by mail is 'insane' — but he has done it himself, records show". NBC News. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  21. ^ Romm, Tony (December 14, 2016). "Trump adds Elon Musk, Uber and PepsiCo CEOs to economic advisory". Politico. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  22. ^ Achenbach, Joel (January 19, 2017). "Will Trump echo JFK's moonshot and vow to send humans to Mars?". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  23. ^ Lee, David (January 26, 2017). "Elon Musk: I'm Trump's voice of reason". BBC News. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  24. ^ Breland, Ali (June 1, 2017). "Trump Paris fallout: Elon Musk steps down from WH councils". The Hill. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  25. ^ Eckhouse, Brian; Brody, Ben (July 15, 2018). "Elon Musk Just Gave Almost $40,000 to a Republican-Allied Group". Bloomberg News. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  26. ^ Jose Valero, Maria (August 10, 2019). "Elon Musk Says He Supports 2020 White House Hopeful Andrew Yang". Bloomberg News. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  27. ^ Dowd, Maureen (July 25, 2020). "Elon Musk, Blasting Off in Domestic Bliss". The New York Times. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  28. ^ Swisher, Kara (September 28, 2020). "Elon Musk: 'A.I. Doesn't Need to Hate Us to Destroy Us'". The New York Times. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Draft:Political_activities_of_Elon_Musk&oldid=1266462658"