Political positions
Musk is an outlier among business leaders who typically avoid partisan political advocacy. Rejecting the conservative label, Musk has described himself as a political moderate, even as his views have become more right-wing over time. His views have been characterized as libertarian and far-right, and after his involvement in European politics, they have received criticism from world leaders such as Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz.
Within the context of American politics, Musk supported Democratic candidates up until 2022, at which point he voted for a Republican for the first time. He has stated support for universal basic income, gun rights, freedom of speech, a tax on carbon emissions, and H-1B visas. Musk has expressed concern about issues such as artificial intelligence (AI) and climate change, and has been a critic of wealth tax, short-selling, and government subsidies. An immigrant himself, Musk has been accused of being anti-immigration, and regularly blames immigration policies for illegal immigration. He is also a pronatalist who believes population decline is the biggest threat to civilization, and identifies as a cultural Christian. Musk has long been an advocate for space colonization, especially the colonization of Mars. He has repeatedly pushed for humanity colonizing Mars, in order to become an interplanetary species and lower the risks of human extinction.
Musk has promoted conspiracy theories and made controversial statements that have led to accusations of racism, sexism, antisemitism, transphobia, disseminating disinformation, and support of white pride. While describing himself as a "pro-Semite", his comments regarding George Soros and Jewish communities have been condemned by the Anti-Defamation League and the Biden White House. Musk was criticized during the COVID-19 pandemic for making unfounded epidemiological claims, defying COVID-19 lockdowns restrictions, and supporting the Canada convoy protest against vaccine mandates. He has amplified false claims of white genocide in South Africa.
Musk was a registered independent voter when he lived in California. Historically, he has donated to both Democrats and Republicans, many of whom serve in states in which he has a vested interest. Musk supported Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. In the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Musk endorsed candidate Andrew Yang and expressed support for Yang's proposed universal basic income, and endorsed Kanye West's 2020 presidential campaign.
On August 5, 2021, Biden signed an Executive Order targeting that half of cars sold in 2030 should be electric. General Motors CEO Mary Barra was in attendance. Musk commented, "seems odd that Tesla wasn't invited." Barra said in 2024 Musk never forgave not being invited. In 2025, former vice president Kamala Harris said that she believed that not inviting Musk was a "big mistake." In September 2021, Musk criticized Biden as "not the friendliest administration." In December 2021, Musk publicly expressed opposition to the Build Back Better Act.
Since 2022, his political contributions have mostly supported Republicans, with his first vote for a Republican going to Mayra Flores in the 2022 Texas's 34th congressional district special election. In 2022, Musk gave over $50 million to Citizens for Sanity, a conservative political action committee. In 2023, he supported Republican Ron DeSantis for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, giving $10 million to his campaign, and hosted DeSantis's campaign announcement on a Twitter Spaces event. From June 2023 to January 2024, Musk hosted a bipartisan set of X Spaces with Republican and Democratic candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy, and Dean Phillips.
In 2024, he started supporting international far-right political parties, activists, and causes, and has shared far-right misinformation and numerous conspiracy theories. Since 2024, his views have been generally described as right-wing.
By the middle of 2024, Musk had become a vocal and financial supporter of Donald Trump. In July 2024, minutes after Trump survived an assassination attempt while speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania, Musk endorsed him for president, saying: "I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery." During the presidential campaign, Musk joined Trump on stage at a campaign rally, and during the campaign promoted conspiracy theories and falsehoods about Democrats, election fraud and immigration, in support of Trump. Musk was the largest individual donor of the 2024 election, spending $291 million. One PAC funded by Musk created and aired deceptive "false-flag" advertisements appearing to come from progressive organizations in order to misrepresent Kamala Harris's positions. Jacob Silverman, author of the 2025 book Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley, said that the tech industry represented by Musk, Thiel, Andreessen and other capitalists, actually flourished under Biden, but the tech leaders chose Trump for their common ground on cultural issues.
In 2023, Musk said he shunned the World Economic Forum (WEF) because it was boring. The organization commented that they had not invited him since 2015. Musk made a last-minute WEF debut in an interview with the organization's interim co-chair Larry Fink during the 2026 WEF. He also participated in Dialog, dubbed "Tech Bilderberg" and organized by Peter Thiel and Auren Hoffman.
Starting in January 2025, Musk's international political actions and comments came under increasing scrutiny and criticism, especially from the governments and leaders of France, Germany, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom, particularly due to his position in the U.S. government from January to May 2025, as well as ownership of X. A February 2025 NBC News analysis found he had boosted far-right political movements to cut immigration and curtail regulation of business in at least 18 countries on six continents since 2023.
In 2025, Musk contributed $19 million to the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, hoping to influence the state's future redistricting efforts and its regulations governing car manufacturers and dealers. Musk spent over $90.6 million in the 2026 United States elections in support of Republican candidates, donating primarily to America PAC, Congressional Leadership Fund, and Senate Leadership Fund.
