'I've done enough': Elon Musk to cut back on political spending

Washington: Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest individual and a major financial backer of President Donald Trump, announced Tuesday that he will be significantly reducing his political campaign spending—a shift that could impact Republican prospects in the upcoming midterm elections.

Speaking via videoconference at a Bloomberg forum in Doha, Qatar, Musk’s remarks suggest a growing disillusionment with politics following his turbulent tenure as Trump's appointee to lead the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, which has struggled to meet its objectives of cutting federal expenditures.

Musk has since stepped back from his government role, choosing to dedicate more time to his businesses, including Tesla, which have faced considerable backlash.

“In terms of political spending I'm going to do a lot less in the future,” Musk said. Asked why, he responded that “I think I've done enough.” Musk's statement marks a reversal of the course he had set during the 2024 campaign — when he was among the very top political spenders — and immediately after.

Elon Musk played a significant financial role in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, contributing at least $250 million as the primary donor to America PAC, a super PAC that funded advertising and door-to-door canvassing efforts across seven key battleground states in the November election.

Once Trump took office, Musk held a prominent role as an adviser and leader of DOGE. He and his acolytes in the department fanned out widely across the federal government to enact deep cuts to the workforce and spending, in some cases seeking to shutter entire agencies altogether.

DOGE has pushed to fire tens of thousands of workers in downsizing at agencies, ranging from the IRS to Health and Human Services, and pressured tens of thousands more to take buyout and early retirement offers. And they sought to shut down agencies such as the US Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

With backing from DOGE, agencies have cancelled tens of thousands of government contracts and grants that they say do not align with the administration's priorities. Some of those moves were done so quickly that they had to be reversed after pushback or court rulings finding that they were illegal.

Critics say it amounts to a reckless chain-saw approach that could destroy much of the nation's apolitical civil service, impair services for vulnerable populations, and halt critical research.

DOGE claims on its “Wall of Receipts” it has saved an estimated $170 billion, but those savings numbers have been shown to be flawed and inflated in many cases.

Musk's role prompted intense pushback, including protests at his electric vehicle company, Tesla. Speaking to reporters earlier this month as he prepared to step back from DOGE, Musk noted the backlash.

“Being attacked relentlessly is not super fun,” he said. “Seeing cars burning is not fun,” he added, referring to the instances of Tesla cars being smashed or set on fire.

Musk's announced intention to step back from political spending comes during multiple new business opportunities, including a deal to host the latest versions of his Grok artificial intelligence chatbot on Microsoft's data centres.

Meanwhile, his brain-computer interface company Neuralink is planning to implant its experimental devices in dozens more people and his electric-vehicle company Tesla is developing a humanoid robot that Musk hopes to one day send to Mars.

Musk could change his mind about campaign spending. The 2026 midterm campaigns are just getting off the ground, while some candidates have not yet announced their candidacy for elections that remain 18 months away.

But as of Tuesday, Musk said he did not expect to.

“Well, if I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it," Musk said. "I do not currently see a reason.”