‘Take the red pill’: Musk’s support for Trump follows wave of government probes into his companies

As Elon Musk ramps up his $1 million-a-day support for Donald Trump, what appears to be a record of progressive harassment of his many companies may explain how the world’s richest man went all-in for Republicans. 

Musk’s transformation from a politically unengaged tech billionaire to mega-donor and avid campaigner has earned him the ire of Democrats who have derided “disinformation” on his X platform and suggest he is violating the law in his support for Trump. 

Undeterred, Musk, touting his most recent effort over the weekend, announced that his Trump-supporting Save America PAC would give away $1 million a day to people who sign an online petition pledging support for the First and Second Amendments. 

To date, the multibillionaire has reportedly dumped $75 million of his own cash into the political action committee to support Trump’s third bid for the presidency. He has also joined the candidate on the campaign trail and is holding events in swing state Pennsylvania, becoming a de facto surrogate for the former president. 

“Take the red pill,” Elon Musk posted to X, alluding to the famous choice in the cult-classic movie "The Matrix" which has now come to represent a choice between the Red (Republican) and Blue (Democratic) political parties.

Musk’s evolution into a fervent Trump supporter comes after years increasingly aggressive probes into his four companies by various agencies of the Biden administration for seemingly frivolous and potentially serious concerns alike.

It is likely no accident that Musk now wants to see the government reduced in size and scope after burdensome lawsuits and regulatory actions against his companies, previously saying publicly that bureaucracy is “smothering” large projects in the United States. 

Space X

Most recently, a California body responsible for managing the coastlines blocked a proposal for the Defense Department on behalf of SpaceX for increasing launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the state. Musk’s SpaceX has raked in billions from contracts primarily with DOD and NASA. 

The California Coastal Commission drew scrutiny after its members voiced criticisms of Musk’s political leanings during a meeting about whether to approve more frequent launches by the company in addition to other concerns, like the environment. 

“We’re dealing with a company, the head of which has aggressively injected himself into the presidential race and he’s managed a company in a way ... that I find to be very disturbing,” said agency chair Caryl Hart. 

“The Coastal Commission has one job — take care of the California coast,” Musk shot back on X Tuesday before SpaceX filed a lawsuit against the commission. “It is illegal for them to make decisions based on what they (mostly wrongly) think are my politics.”

“Rarely has a government agency made so clear that it was exceeding its authorized mandate to punish a company for the political views and statements of its largest shareholder and CEO,” SpaceX alleged in the 45-page lawsuit.

This is not the first time Musk’s SpaceX has been the target of government action. Last August, the Department of Justice announced a high profile lawsuit against the space exploration company for allegedly discriminating against asylum claimants and refugees in its hiring process. 

The suit alleged Musk’s company “routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status,” according to the DOJ press release. 

"SpaceX was told repeatedly that hiring anyone who was not a permanent resident of the United States would violate international arms trafficking law, which would be a criminal offense," Musk said in post to X, which he acquired in a $44 billion deal in 2022. "We couldn’t even hire Canadian citizens, despite Canada being part of NORAD! This is yet another case of weaponization of the DOJ for political purposes."

Several months later, a federal judge in Texas blocked the administrative case against the company from proceeding while it challenged the specific internal adjudication process. In a preliminary ruling earlier this year, a Texas judge ruled that the internal DOJ administrative panel process was unconstitutional, though the decision is not binding on the federal government. 

Political attacks

Musk’s other companies, X, Tesla, and Neuralink have also faced scrutiny from Biden administration regulators and agencies. 

Since his acquisition of Twitter, Elon Musk and his company—now X—have faced increasing political attacks from Democrats and their progressive allies over Musk’s behavior on the site and the reach of his content. 

For example, Musk came under fire from Michigan’s Democratic Secretary of State who warned about a “maelstrom of disinformation” preventing officials from informing voters. 

“I know the vast majority of election administrators just try to keep their heads down and do the work,” she said, according to the Associated Press. “The challenge is, how do we get information about our work out to citizens, many of whom follow Musk or are members of X, or on the platform?”

Musk has been criticized by Democrats for posts and content that spread on his site, with or without his support. 

Here are just some of other actions taken by the Biden administration and progressive allies against Musk’s companies: 

• The Environmental Protection Agency fined SpaceX for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act over “industrial process wastewater” discharge into waterways around its Brownsville, Texas, launch facility. 
• The Department of Transportation fined Musk’s Neuralink for violations of rules for the transportation of hazardous materials found during inspections of two company sites in Texas and California. 
• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Tesla for alleged racial harassment and retaliation. Tesla previously settled another lawsuit by one employee that alleged the same.  
• The Federal Trade Commission requested internal communications and details about laid off staff after Musk’s acquisition of the company with the justification that layoffs inhibited the company from fulfilling obligations under a $150 million privacy fine as the result of a settlement. 
• The National Highway Safety and Traffic Administration began an investigation into Tesla’s self-driving technology after at least one fatal accident. 
• After NASA agreed to pay SpaceX $4.4 million to take astronauts on two trips to the moon, the Federal Aviation Administration delayed the most recent test launch of Musk’s rocket Starship over environmental concerns. 

In total, The New York Times found that Musk’s companies have been the target of 20 investigations or reviews from Biden administration agencies. 

"Regulatory smothering"

President Trump has expressed approval for the idea of placing Musk at the head of “government efficiency commission” to cut down on wasteful spending and burdensome regulations at federal agencies, many of the same agencies currently investigating his four companies. 

Critics warn Musk would bring conflicts of interest to the new proposed role given his companies’ many federal contracts. Elon Musk “has had very contentious interactions and entanglements with regulators,” Kathleen Clark, an ethics lawyer who has advised the D.C. government, told The New York Times.

Yet, it is the government probes that appear to be motivating Musk’s newfound activism and interest in Trump’s proposed role for him. He has previously expressed the belief that government bureaucracy is “smothering” any large scientific or infrastructure projects, including those from his companies. 

“Starship will make life multiplanetary, preserving life as know from extinction events on Earth, so long as it is not smothered by bureaucracy,” Musk posted to X of one of SpaceX’s primary projects.

“There is more government regulatory smothering every year. If this continues, all large projects in the United States will be illegal,” he added.