After a dramatic public rupture with President Donald Trump last year, Elon Musk once denounced the Republican Party as a corrupt machine that was “bankrupting” the United States.
Now, following months on the political sidelines, the billionaire tech executive appears poised to reenter the fray—this time by pouring his vast wealth into Republican campaigns ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
“America is toast if the radical left wins,” Musk wrote on X on Thursday. “They will open the floodgates to illegal immigration and fraud. Won’t be America anymore.”
His message echoed—and appeared to affirm—a post by a conservative influencer who claimed Musk was “going all in” on financing Republican candidates this year.
That assertion aligns with reports from December indicating Musk had begun writing “big checks” to congressional Republicans after a reconciliation dinner with Vice President J.D. Vance.
The renewed commitment marks a sharp turn from Musk’s pledge last July to bankroll a new “America Party,” which he said would challenge what he described as a bipartisan consensus in favor of excessive government borrowing.
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste and graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk said at the time. “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
Those ambitions quickly lost momentum as the practical challenges of launching a viable third party set in. By August, The Wall Street Journal reported that Vance had convinced Musk to abandon the effort, prompting him to cancel a planned call with political strategists.
Earlier this week, The Washington Post detailed Vance’s months-long, behind-the-scenes work to repair the strained relationship between Trump and Musk—though the détente is said to remain fragile.
Musk, currently the world’s richest individual with an estimated net worth of $726 billion, contributed more than $290 million to support Trump and other Republican candidates during the 2024 election cycle.
That alliance famously collapsed last June after Musk alleged that Trump was concealing ties to Jeffrey Epstein, prompting Trump to threaten the cancellation of Musk’s government contracts.
The two later appeared to bury the hatchet—at least publicly—sharing a brief exchange at a memorial service for Charlie Kirk in September, an encounter Trump later minimized.
Two months after that, Musk was spotted receiving a friendly pat on the arm from Trump at a dinner honoring Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom U.S. officials have said ordered the 2018 killing of a journalist residing in the United States.
