Elon Musk says he will cut back on political spending after heavily backing Trump in 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk, the richest person in the world and a key financial supporter of President Donald Trump, said Tuesday that he'll be spending “a lot less” on political campaigns, a reversal that could be a setback for Republicans ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Musk disclosed his decision via videoconference during a Bloomberg forum in Doha, Qatar. It speaks to his possible disenchantment with politics after his tumultuous tenure as Trump's pick to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which has fallen far short of its goals for reducing federal spending. Musk has scaled back his government role to spend more time at his businesses, including Tesla, which have seen intense blowback. Tesla reported a big drop in profits in the first quarter.

“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.

Musk spent at least $250 million supporting Trump in the presidential campaign, as the main contributor to America PAC, a super PAC that was active in advertising and funding door-to-door canvassing groups across the seven most-competitive states in the November presidential election.

Musk relished in the publicity, campaigning alongside Trump at times and headlining some of his own campaign rallies on the GOP nominee's behalf.

And while he took credit for helping Trump return to the White House, Musk suffered a public defeat in April, after he became deeply involved in a Wisconsin Supreme Court campaign. Musk-backed groups America PAC and Rebuilding America's Future spent more than $21 million on the April 1 election in support of the Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel.

But Schimel's defeat by 10 percentage points in Wisconsin, a state Trump carried just five months earlier, was a blow to Musk, who campaigned for Schimel in Green Bay the weekend before the election and had also pledged to enforce Trump's agenda in the 2026 midterm elections.

A week after Trump's November victory, Musk said the political action committees he supported would “play a significant role in primaries,” adding later that he might help finance Republican challengers to GOP members of Congress who did not support Trump's nominees.

“How else? There is no other way,” Musk wrote on X, which he rebranded after purchasing Twitter, in response to the suggestion of supporting intraparty challenges.

An adviser to Musk’s PACs declined to comment Tuesday.

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 U.S. 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 centers.

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.”

————————————————————————————————— Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa. Ali Swenson and Jill Colvin in New York City contributed to this report.

Elon Musk, center, shakes hands with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, right, as they look at a model of a city under construction, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Elon Musk gestures as he arrives for a state dinner hosted by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in honor of President Donald Trump at Lusail Palace in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)