The unusual rivalry between the US president and the CEO of a car brand continues. Now Elon Musk wants to donate 700 million kroner to Donald Trump.
Elon Musk wants to set the record for single donations to Donald Trump and the MAGA movement in the United States.
Specifically, the Tesla director has promised to cough up $100 million, equivalent to just under 700 million Danish kroner, for the political movement.
The New York Times writes.
If the donation goes through, it will be the largest amount an American president has ever received from a single donor.
The funds will likely be used to strengthen the Republican Party's control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the upcoming midterm elections, the media outlet believes.
Elon Musk previously spent around $290 million to support Trump's election campaign last year.
The news about the many million dollars also comes at a very remarkable time.
The timing of the news is notable. Just hours before the New York Times published its story, Musk and Trump participated in a Tesla commercial directly in front of the White House.
All this shortly after Tesla's shares fell significantly. With five Tesla electric cars in the background, including a Model S and a Cybertruck, Trump told reporters that Musk was being subjected to unfair criticism and boycotts.
Trump also used the media attention to announce that he wanted to buy a Tesla.
– I want to buy one because, first of all, it's a good product, as good as it gets.
"Secondly, because he (Elon Musk, ed.) has donated his energy and his life to do it, and I think he is being treated very unfairly," Trump said, referring to the recent protests against Tesla.
However, Trump is not the first president to publicly come out and more or less directly support a car brand.
His predecessor Joe Biden has purchased a Ford F-150 Lightning, among other things. However, the Tesla event that took place at the White House seemed more like a media stunt than anything else.
At the same time, Tesla must deal with the fact that some people cannot hold back their anger towards the car brand.
Several Teslas have already been burned down in the suburbs of Berlin, and there have been attacks on Tesla stores in both France and the United States.