Elon Musk will do a ‘lot less’ political spending in the future

Elon Musk said Tuesday that he is going to reduce his future spending on politics in the United States.

“In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Mr. Musk said while speaking remotely to the Qatar Economic Forum.

“I think I’ve done enough,” he said stone-faced as the crowd laughed.

Mr. Musk, who suffered fierce left-wing blowback for leading President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, said his mind could change if he sees a reason.

“I do not currently see a reason,” he said.

The Tesla CEO is the richest man in the world and spent nearly $300 million on the 2024 election after endorsing Mr. Trump following the July assassination attempt of Mr. Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

His money went towards helping Mr. Trump and Republicans in Congress get elected.

At the White House, Mr. Musk was tasked with slashing the federal government’s spending. Certain moves became controversial at times, but the White House touts that DOGE has saved the government $170 billion.

Mr. Musk has started to take a step back from DOGE, a move that was expected this month. He told Tesla investors in a call last month that his “time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly.”

He said he would continue to dedicate one or two days a week “on government matters for as long as the president would like me to do so and as long as it is useful.”

“I’ll have to continue doing it for I think the remainder of the president’s term just to make sure the waste and fraud that we stopped does not come roaring back, which it will do if it has the chance,” Mr. Musk said.

Tesla has been a target of left-wing violence and boycotts since Mr. Musk’s rise in the Trump political sphere. The company has also lost revenue and had a lower stock value.