Money has become the key to winning presidential elections in the past few election cycles. Campaigns are expensive to run and candidates who can bankroll their efforts can gain an advantage.

Republicans tend to hold their own in fundraising for their candidates, but Democrats have unfettered access to super-rich liberal donors who freely open their wallets. Democrats have built a campaign coffer this year that always seems to be a step ahead of Republicans.

That edge among wealthy donors could disappear after former President Donald Trump met with one of the richest people on earth this week. A clandestine meeting between Trump and the X man could turn the 2024 election upside down.

From the Daily Mail:
A secret meeting between Elon Musk and Donald Trump has sent speculation swirling that the Tesla boss could bankroll the Republican presidential hopeful’s campaign.

The two met on Sunday in Palm Beach, Florida, along with a few wealthy Republican donors, according to the New York Times.

Musk, the second richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $200 billion, has ventured into the political landscape in recent weeks with tweets on X. He has posted on the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, including slamming Biden’s woke policies and the president’s open border crisis.

Trump must keep fundraising to maintain his presidential campaign. He also faces legal judgments against him totaling more than $800 million. His legal fees in defending himself from the onslaught of civil and criminal cases against is reported to be around $50 million.

Musk has not endorsed either presidential candidate to this point. He has criticized Biden, including sharing an article that highlighted Biden’s importing of 320,000 illegal immigrants into the U.S. Musk called Biden’s unvetted migrant policy as “highly probable that the groundwork is being laid for something far worse than 9/11.”

Trump and Musk in 2022 shared a Twitter rift with Trump calling Musk an expletive and Musk responding that the former president should “sail into the sunset.” There was no immediate word from the Trump campaign about current relations with Musk.

Despite public differences, in recent years has leaned into Republican policies and even defended Trump against a liberal podcast host this year. Musk wrote on X that, “Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is a very real disease.”

UDPATE:

The Daily Mail reported Wednesday that Musk won’t be funding any presidential campaigns this year. “Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President,” Musk wrote in a post on X.

The lack of support from Musk didn’t stop Trump from winning 14 of the 15 states that voted in Republican presidential primaries on Super Tuesday. Trump didn’t need the X man to win big and ultimately end the campaign of his last rival, Nikki Haley.

Trump will need to unify the GOP faithful and rally donors to support him heading into November. Maybe Musk will change his tune as the campaign heats up and Trump exposes more of Biden’s failures along the way.

Key Takeaways:

• A secret meeting between Trump and Elon Musk could change the election landscape.
• Trump needs constant donations to fund his presidential bid and Musk is worth $200 billion.
• The two have clashed before but working together they could make waves in 2024.

Source: Daily Mail