--- title: 'Fake Gnus': Musk Seemingly Denies Report on Funding Pro-Trump PAC description: Elon Musk’s reported $45 million per month cash infusion could help build Trump’s fundraising advantage over Biden. canonical: https://time.com/6999003/elon-musk-donate-millions-trump-campaign-america-pac/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-07-16T04:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-19T17:25:53.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'Fake Gnus': Musk Seemingly Denies Report on Funding Pro-Trump PAC og:description: Elon Musk’s reported $45 million per month cash infusion could help build Trump’s fundraising advantage over Biden. og:url: https://time.com/6999003/elon-musk-donate-millions-trump-campaign-america-pac/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10d3b3c32d465c76/698a58c016d8849104c3edae/Elon-Musk-Donate-Trump-Campaign.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Elon Musk Donald Trump Campaign Donation og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Fake Gnus': Musk Seemingly Denies Report on Funding Pro-Trump PAC twitter:description: Elon Musk’s reported $45 million per month cash infusion could help build Trump’s fundraising advantage over Biden. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10d3b3c32d465c76/698a58c016d8849104c3edae/Elon-Musk-Donate-Trump-Campaign.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Elon Musk Says Report That He Plans to Give $45 Million a Month to Pro-Trump PAC is ‘Fake’ ## Video: Trump Energizes Republicans at Convention With First Public Appearance After Shooting [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Energizes Republicans at Convention With First Public Appearance After Shooting](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fRewhxsu.m3u8) (1:36)  _Published 2024-07-16. Former President Donald Trump slowly walked through the crowd and into a box at the Republican National Convention on Monday, his first public appearance since a bullet sliced through his ear during an assassination attempt._ by [Jennifer Jacobs and Bill Allison / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Jennifer Jacobs and Bill Allison / Bloomberg Updated: Jan 19, 2026 5:25 PM UTCPublished: Jul 16, 2024 4:00 AM UTC  Then-President Donald Trump (background) with billionaire Elon Musk at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., May 30, 2020. Then-President Donald Trump (background) with billionaire Elon Musk at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., May 30, 2020.Saul Martinez—Getty Images by [Jennifer Jacobs and Bill Allison / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Jennifer Jacobs and Bill Allison / Bloomberg Updated: Jan 19, 2026 5:25 PM UTCPublished: Jul 16, 2024 4:00 AM UTC Elon Musk is pledging to pour $45 million a month into a pro-[Donald Trump](https://time.com/6972021/donald-trump-2024-election-interview/) political group, a move that would flood the Republican nominee’s reelection effort with cash through the November election. Musk’s planned cash infusion could help build Trump’s fundraising advantage over President [Joe Biden](https://time.com/6984970/joe-biden-2024-interview/), who has suffered from a donor revolt in recent weeks, with some [calling for him to step aside ](https://time.com/6994628/democrats-biden-drop-out/)for a [new nominee](https://time.com/6993607/could-democrats-replace-biden-nominee-explainer/). The billionaire entrepreneur endorsed Trump in a [post on X](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1812256998588662068) after the former President was wounded while addressing a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening. The [_Wall Street Journal_](https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/elon-musk-has-said-he-is-committing-around-45-million-a-month-to-a-new-pro-trump-super-pac-dda53823) first reported on Musk’s plans to commit around $45 million per month to a group backing Trump, citing people familiar with the matter. In a [reply to the story on X](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1813097084595163643), Musk posted a meme with the words “FAKE GNUS.” Palantir’s Joe Lonsdale and crypto billionaires Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss are among other big donors to the group, America PAC, which is working to reach out to voters to convince them to show up to the polls in November. The super political action committee raised $8.8 million in the second quarter, spent $7.8 million and started July with a little less than $1 million cash on hand, according to its most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission. Musk—who didn’t contribute until July, according to a person familiar with the matter—wasn’t listed in the report, which includes donations made between the PAC’s founding on May 22 and the end of June. Lonsdale gave $1 million through his company Lonsdale Enterprises Inc. The Winklevoss twins each gave $250,000\. Other donors include Joe Craft, chief executive officer of Alliance Resource Partners, who gave $1 million. His wife, Kelly Craft, was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump. Douglas Leone of Sequoia Capital gave $1 million, as did Florida restaurateur James Liautaud. The donations show the growing momentum Trump has among big donors in the technology and financial worlds, which started after his May 30 conviction by a Manhattan jury on felony charges related to hush-money payments to an adult-film star. Venture capitalist David Sacks hosted a fundraiser for Trump on June 6 that raised $12 million. Citadel’s Ken Griffin and Paul Singer, founder of Elliott Investment Management, who’ve both been critics of Trump, met with the former President to discuss donating to his White House bid. Neither man has made a commitment to donate. Biden’s disastrous performance in his [June 27 debate](https://time.com/6993360/first-presidential-debate-biggest-moments-2024/) with Trump, which plunged the Democratic Party into an internecine struggle between his supporters and those who would prefer a different standard bearer, accelerated the move to Trump. **Read More:** [_Inside Biden’s Debate Disaster and the Scramble to Quell Democratic Panic_](https://time.com/6993760/joe-biden-debate-disaster-democratic-panic/) America PAC is working mostly behind the scenes to bolster the Trump campaign’s ground game. Though FEC disclosures don’t detail where the work is occurring, canvassing and get-out-the-vote efforts are conducted most intensively in key battleground states that will determine the outcome of the election. Democrats have invested heavily in field offices and staff in swing states, moves Biden regularly touts on the stump. A super-PAC matching those efforts on Trump’s behalf gives Republicans a major cash advantage to spend official campaign money elsewhere, in what is shaping up to be the most expensive presidential election in U.S. history. Among outside organizations backing Trump, America PAC is the biggest spender on direct voter contacts. It has spent $15.8 million so far, with $13.1 million of that going for field operations, federal records show. It has also paid for digital media, texting and phone calls to reach voters. The group focuses on door-to-door persuasion and get-out-the-vote efforts. 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