With the U.S. polls now closed and Republican candidate Donald Trump's return to the presidency secure, it’s hard to overlook Elon Musk’s crucial contribution to Trump’s victory. Standing firmly by the future president’s side, Musk devoted all his energy and resources to supporting Trump's campaign.
"We have a new star, a star is born: Elon," Trump said in his speech following his win. "He's an amazing guy. We were sitting together tonight. You know, he spent two weeks in Philadelphia, in different parts of Pennsylvania, campaigning."
Donald Trump thanking Elon Musk
(Video: Fox News)
He added he called him following the SpaceX space shuttle launch and told him, "Only Elon can do this. That's why I love you, Elon."
The relationship between the two goes deeper. During his campaign, Trump announced that, if elected, he would establish a special committee focused on streamlining processes within the federal government, aiming to reduce bureaucracy and increase the government’s financial efficiency.
Trump expressed his interest in appointing Musk — the founder of Tesla, SpaceX and other companies — as the head of this committee to lead efforts that would promote innovation and improve efficiency in the public sector. Musk, in turn, showed interest in the role, even saying he would agree to serve without pay and without any official status.
However, Musk's most significant contribution wasn't his near-constant attendance at Trump’s events or even the $1 million raffle he held for Republican voters, which angered many. It was his countless posts on the social network X, which, according to experts, ultimately tipped the scales.
At first glance, the tech mogul and world’s wealthiest person’s posts might seem chaotic and random. But a closer look reveals the strategy behind them — a strategy worth noting if one seeks to understand the maneuvers in the campaign to return Trump to the White House.
Musk has been a prominent user on X (formerly twitter) for quite some time, even before becoming the owner, CEO and chairman of the company. Since he officially endorsed Trump last July, his activity on the platform has sharply and unusually increased — a trend that intensified in recent days.
In addition to numerous tweets, Musk hosted a live discussion on the platform about the elections, lasting about an hour and a half, which attracted around 1.3 million listeners. This was one of several live discussions he held in recent months surrounding the elections, including one with Trump himself.
Through a flood of content, accusations, rumors and conspiracy theories, Musk and Trump’s campaign seized public attention, filling readers’ minds with doubts and fears and diverting them from listening to the opposing side.
Claims that the U.S. elections could be "stolen" gained traction on social media since the start of 2024. But in the past week, this idea received renewed momentum — beginning on October 27 when Trump started using the hashtag TooBigtoRig, implying that his victory would be so large it would be indisputable.
Simultaneously, there was a marked increase in tweets with hashtags related to the topic, such as ElectionFraud, ElectionInterference, VoterFraud, and StopTheSteal. Although Musk himself rarely uses these tags, his tweets tend to align with their narrative.
For example, earlier this week, he reposted a post claiming that U.S. electronic voting systems are insecure, adding simply, "Absolutely."
Musk also accused Google of encouraging the American public to vote for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris — a claim later proven false. As the results began coming in, Musk posted that Trump was close to winning with nearly a 70% chance, writing, "The prophecy has been fulfilled!"
Ultimately, Musk’s actions not only solidified Trump’s base of support but also amplified the narrative that the elections were at risk, contributing to a public atmosphere that led to renewed support for the former president’s candidacy. Time will tell what public role Musk will assume under the service of the next U.S. president.
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