Trump frenemy Elon Musk spent nearly $500M on the election - all he got out of it was MAGA losing its power

Elon Musk, the world's richest person, put at least $474 million into Republican efforts this cycle, according to The New York Times, and voters still handed Democrats control of Congress. The party holds at least 54 Senate seats and 228 House seats, which positions it to block much of President Donald Trump's agenda and to investigate the administration, according to The Independent.

The largest portions of Musk's money went to three groups: $216 million to America PAC, the turnout-focused committee he founded; $168 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, nearly all of it directed toward Ken Paxton's Texas Senate bid; and $30 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund. Paxton nevertheless lost to James Talarico, and Gina Hinojosa won the governorship. Democrats also flipped seats in Michigan and Wisconsin, where Musk had backed state-level efforts. Because filings cover only the period up to October 14, later gifts remain unknown and the true sum could be larger.

Musk had said in May 2025 that he would spend far less politically, yet his outlay surpassed the roughly $291 million he'd given in 2024 by October. On X, he joked that his "election-interfering space lasers" had failed.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →