{"id":9427,"date":"2025-05-21T03:22:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T03:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/?p=9427"},"modified":"2025-05-21T03:22:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T03:22:53","slug":"musk-asked-about-2026-midterms-says-he-will-do-a-lot-less-political-spending-in-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/?p=9427","title":{"rendered":"Musk, asked about 2026 midterms, says he will do &#8216;a lot less&#8217; political spending in the future"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">Billionaire <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/alerts\/elonmusk\" target=\"_blank\">Elon Musk<\/a>, the top donor in the 2024 election who helped boost President Donald Trump&#8217;s path to victory, said Tuesday he plans to scale back his political spending going forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;In terms of political spending, I&#8217;m going to do a lot less in the future,&#8221; Musk said when asked at the Qatar Economic Forum whether he still intended to play a major role in the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Asked why, the world&#8217;s richest man replied, &#8220;I think I&#8217;ve done enough.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it,&#8221; Musk added. &#8220;I don&#8217;t currently see a reason.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The comments mark the first time Musk has said he plans to step back from putting his fortune behind political candidates, after pouring over $200 million of his own money into the 2024 race.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Musk&#8217;s comments appear to be a reversal, and could have a major impact on the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">After Trump&#8217;s 2024 win, Musk said his America PAC would play a major role in future elections, including the midterms.<\/p>\n<div class=\"oLzSq QrHMO fnRUo pvsTF EhJPu vPlOC zNYgW OsTsW RMeqy daRVX ISNQ sKyCY eRftA acPPc MENS nFwaT MCnQE mEeeY SmBjI xegrY rPLsU iulOd NIuqO zzscu lzDCc aHUBM IEgzD OjMNy eQqcx SVqKB GQmdz jaoD VWDdR ONJdw vrZxD OnRTz gbbfF roDbV GPGwb oMlSS gfNzt oJhud eXZcf zhVlX \">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage GpQCA lZur asrEW \" data-testid=\"prism-inline-image\">\n<figure class=\"kzIjN GNmeK pYrtp dSqFO \" data-testid=\"prism-figure\">\n<div class=\"GpQCA lZur gIjeL \" data-testid=\"prism-ratio-frame\">\n<div class=\"FvQLF iLTd NqeUA UzzHi iWsMV \"><picture data-testid=\"prism-picture\"><source media=\"(max-width: 414px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/86030f8d-aa61-4178-b023-e75577ccb176\/elon-musk-3-gty-gmh-250520_1747752980019_hpMain.jpg?w=375, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/86030f8d-aa61-4178-b023-e75577ccb176\/elon-musk-3-gty-gmh-250520_1747752980019_hpMain.jpg?w=750 2x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 415px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/86030f8d-aa61-4178-b023-e75577ccb176\/elon-musk-3-gty-gmh-250520_1747752980019_hpMain.jpg?w=750, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/86030f8d-aa61-4178-b023-e75577ccb176\/elon-musk-3-gty-gmh-250520_1747752980019_hpMain.jpg?w=1500 2x\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>\n<div class=\"nMMea bNYiy Mjgpa dGwha DDmxa jgKNG RGHCC aBIU PriDW lZur \" data-testid=\"prism-caption\">\n<p><span class=\"hsDdd OOSI GpQCA lZur VlFaz \" data-testid=\"prism-truncate\"><span><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ \">Elon Musk speaks via video conference at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, May 20, 2025.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ YNujN JGtjI aZFDu rkKLh \">Karim Jaafar\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Normally, PACs go somewhat dormant after a big election,&#8221; he tweeted at the time. &#8220;@America PAC is going to do the opposite and keep grinding, increasing Republican registrations in key districts around the country, in preparation for special elections and the midterms.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Representatives for Musk&#8217;s America PAC declined to comment to ABC News regarding Musk&#8217;s comments on Tuesday. Sources close to Musk&#8217;s political operation previously told ABC News that the billionaire planned to remain active in upcoming elections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Although Musk was the Republican Party&#8217;s largest donor in 2024 and many view him as having played a major role in getting Trump elected, some within the GOP and inside Trump&#8217;s circle have begun to see him as a liability. Democrats have seized on his role with DOGE as a rallying point during the early months of Trump&#8217;s first term, launching nationwide protests against the group and its <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/musk-doge-made-progress-effective-after-100-days\/story?id=121347452\" target=\"_blank\">government-slashing efforts<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Since joining the Trump administration as the head of DOGE &#8212; and after <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/wisconsin-supreme-court-rejects-effort-block-musks-1m\/story?id=120319945\" target=\"_blank\">going all-in<\/a> on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race earlier this year and losing &#8212; Musk&#8217;s political involvement has dropped significantly as sources close to the billionaire say he has grown increasingly frustrated with Washington and with the mounting attacks on his companies, which include Tesla and Twitter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">In recent weeks, Musk has stepped back from his daily work at DOGE and the White House, sources told ABC News. He has tweeted far less about politics and has been spending only about one day a week in Washington. During that time, Tesla&#8217;s stock has surged more than 50%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Billionaire Elon Musk, the top donor in the 2024 election who helped boost President Donald Trump&#8217;s path to victory, said Tuesday he plans to scale back his political spending going forward. &#8220;In terms of political spending, I&#8217;m going to do a lot less in the future,&#8221; Musk said when asked at the Qatar Economic Forum [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9427"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9429,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9427\/revisions\/9429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}