Trump, Musk alliance could threaten Harris in 2024 election

NASHVILLE, Tenn. —  Former President Donald Trump‘s highly anticipated keynote address at the biggest bitcoin gathering of the year started over an hour late.

As the crowd of investors, enthusiasts and the crypto-curious grew increasingly antsy at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Elon Musk‘s private jet was touching down 200 miles away in Memphis, Tennessee.

It was July 27, just two weeks after Trump had survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. Hours later, he’d been publicly endorsed by the Tesla CEO for a second term.

Inside Nashville’s Music City Center, rumors had been swirling all week that Musk would make a surprise appearance at the conference, and maybe even moderate a fireside chat with Trump.

Musk didn’t show, but he was very much present.

“I love Elon. He’s great,” Trump told the crowd. “He endorsed me and great endorsement and everything else, but not everybody has to have an electric car.”

Yet Trump’s comments in Nashville were notably toned down from what he’d said about Musk just a week earlier at a rally in Michigan.

“I love Elon Musk … we have to make life good for us smart people. And he’s as smart as you get,” Trump said at the time. “He gives me $45 million a month! C’mon. Not $45 million. He gives me $45 million a month.”

He continued, “I mean other guys, they give you $2 and you got to take them to lunch, you got to wine ’em and dine ’em.”

So what happened between July 20 in Michigan and July 27 in Nashville to tamp down Trump’s gushing praise? The answer appears simple: On July 22, Musk denied the extent of the pledge.

“What’s been reported in the media is simply not true,” Musk told podcaster Jordan Peterson. “I’m not donating $45 million a month to Trump.” In a July 25 post on X, the social media company he owns, Musk said he was making donations to a political action committee supporting Trump “but at a much lower level.” 

The relationship between Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, and Trump, the Republican nominee for president, is as volatile as the characters themselves. Over the years, they’ve made fun of each other, talked down to one another and taken opposite sides on key issues. But of late, they’ve emerged as parallel heroes to the far right, a group that includes a healthy dose of crypto enthusiasts, and are united in a single quest: defeating Democrats in 2024.

How far Musk is willing to go to financially support Trump in his campaign, now against Vice President Kamala Harris, is another matter. Musk set up a super PAC called America PAC days after endorsing Trump, but it’s not clear how much money he’s contributed, and the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office said Monday that it’s eyeing the group following a complaint that it’s collecting personal data while failing in its promise to help users register…