The Wall Street Journal reports that Elon Musk has told President Trump he plans to spend at least $100 million on a Republican voter-turnout operation for the November midterms. The promise came during a flight to Beijing and follows months of private efforts to end their 2025 public feud. The relationship is warmer, but not the same as before.
Key Takeaways by Planet Today
The money: Musk intends to channel at least $100 million—and possibly up to $120 million—through America PAC into get-out-the-vote efforts aimed at helping Republicans keep control of Congress.
The thaw: After a bitter mid-2025 split over Trump’s tax-and-spending package, the two men resumed contact. A May 2026 Air Force One flight to China marked a visible public step toward reconciliation.
Behind the scenes: Vice President J.D. Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and mutual friends worked for nearly a year to keep lines open. SpaceX’s defense and NASA contracts were repeatedly cited as a practical reason not to let the relationship collapse completely.
Limits of the reset: Trump’s aides say the closeness of 2024 is unlikely to return. The two now speak roughly once a month on topics including AI, China and current events.
Political stakes: Democrats currently hold an edge in national polling for the midterms while Trump’s approval rating sits near historic lows. Musk’s spending is one of the largest single outside commitments reported so far in the cycle.
In mid-August 2026, The Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk and Donald Trump have moved past their explosive 2025 falling-out. The repair was neither sudden nor purely sentimental. According to people who traveled with both men, Musk used a May flight to Beijing aboard Air Force One to tell the president he planned to invest at least $100 million in a voter-turnout operation designed to help Republicans retain congressional majorities in November.
The conversation took place in the informal setting of the presidential aircraft. Musk discussed plans for new U.S. factories. Trump asked about one of Musk’s sons and mentioned a space-launch video. The tone was described as friendly. That exchange capped nearly a year of quieter efforts that included private phone calls, invitations to Mar-a-Lago, a White House dinner, and intervention by mutual acquaintances.
How the Break Happened
The relationship had been unusually close during the 2024 campaign. Musk publicly endorsed Trump, spent roughly $288–300 million supporting Republican candidates, and later accepted a high-profile role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The arrangement ended in open conflict in mid-2025 when Musk denounced Trump’s major tax-and-spending legislation as “utterly insane and destructive.” Public insults followed. Trump threatened to cancel government contracts involving Musk’s companies. Musk floated the idea of a new political party. For a time the alliance appeared finished.
What kept it from staying finished was a mixture of personal outreach and institutional interest. Vice President J.D. Vance and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles maintained contact with Musk and his circle. Vance, according to the Journal’s sources, regarded Musk as too significant to ignore given SpaceX’s extensive work with the Pentagon and NASA. Musk, for his part, eventually dropped the third-party idea—partly, the reporting suggests, to preserve a working relationship with Vance, who is widely viewed as a possible 2028 contender.
“The two men are unlikely to return to the close relationship they once had,” Trump aides told the Journal. Still, they have resumed speaking roughly once a month.
The $100 Million Commitment in Context
Separate reporting by The New York Times and Axios in late July established that Musk had authorized America PAC—the same vehicle he used in 2024—to spend between $100 million and $120 million on midterm efforts. The focus is described as a large-scale get-out-the-vote program targeting less consistent Republican voters in non-presidential years. Early target lists include Senate races in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Michigan and Ohio, with possible involvement in North Carolina, Georgia and Texas, plus selected House contests.
America PAC has already spent tens of millions in the current cycle. Federal filings show Musk remains its dominant funder. Super PACs can accept unlimited contributions and spend freely so long as they do not coordinate directly with candidates. The planned outlay would rank among the largest single outside efforts of the 2026 cycle.
Democrats and progressive groups view the spending as further evidence that billionaire money continues to distort electoral competition. Republican strategists see it as a necessary counterweight at a moment when historical midterm patterns and current polling favor the opposition. Trump’s net approval has fallen close to record lows amid public dissatisfaction that includes his handling of the Iran conflict and domestic economic concerns. In that environment, any large, well-organized turnout operation carries practical weight.
What Other Voices Are Saying
Supporters of the rapprochement frame it as pragmatic adult politics: two powerful figures with overlapping interests in regulation, space, AI and China finding a way to work together again. Critics argue the sequence—public rupture, quiet courtship, large financial pledge—illustrates how personal relationships and corporate government contracts can shape national politics more than formal party structures.
Some on the right who were disappointed by Musk’s 2025 criticism of the spending bill remain wary. Some on the left who once hoped the feud would permanently sideline Musk’s political spending see the new commitment as confirmation that such hope was premature. Independent observers note that Musk has repeatedly said he intends to reduce his personal involvement in day-to-day politics while still directing significant resources through PACs.
Two Additional Notes
First, the May Beijing trip itself was a high-profile gathering of U.S. business leaders traveling with the president. Musk’s presence on Air Force One alongside other executives signaled that the personal estrangement had cooled enough for him to reappear in that circle. Second, Charlie Kirk’s memorial service was cited in the Journal as one of the earlier public moments when the two men briefly spoke—an encounter that mutual friends had reportedly hoped would help lower the temperature.
Readers interested in the broader money-in-politics picture may also find useful context in Planet Today’s earlier coverage of large-scale political spending and regulatory influence.
Where Things Stand
The facts reported by the Journal and corroborated by other outlets are limited but consistent: a public break in 2025, months of private repair work, a visible thaw on the China flight, and a concrete $100 million-plus commitment to Republican turnout operations. Neither man has issued a joint statement declaring the relationship fully restored. Trump’s team does not expect the earlier intensity to return. Musk is not described as returning to a formal government role.
Whether the spending will meaningfully shift midterm outcomes remains an empirical question that will be answered in November. What is already clear is that one of the most consequential personal and financial alliances of the 2024 cycle has been partially reconstructed—on different terms, with clearer boundaries, and with a large check still on the table.
Original source: The Wall Street Journal, “How Trump and Musk rekindled a relationship that seemed beyond repair,” reported around August 14, 2026 (Alex Leary and colleagues). Additional contemporaneous reporting from The New York Times and Axios on the $100–120 million America PAC plans (late July 2026). Full WSJ piece available to subscribers at wsj.com.
Disclaimer: This article summarizes reporting based on anonymous sources familiar with private conversations and strategy discussions. Details may be incomplete or subject to revision. No official joint statement from Trump or Musk confirming every element has been issued. Political spending figures are drawn from contemporaneous news accounts and campaign-finance filings available at the time of writing.
Original article: Musk’s $100M Midterm Bet Mends Trump Rift – What’s Really Behind It on Planet Today 🚀
Automatically republished from the main blog.