By DAN MERIQUE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk’s super PAC has spent about $200 million to help elect Donald Trumpaccording to a person familiar with the group’s spending, funding an effort that sets a new standard for how billionaires can influence elections.

The Tesla billionaire and SpaceX CEO provided the vast majority of money to America PAC, which focused on low-propensity and new voters, according to the person, who was not authorized to disclose the figure publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

America PAC’s work was aided by a decision from March of the Federal Election Commission that paved the way for super PACs to coordinate their canvassing efforts with campaigns, allowing the Trump campaign to rely on the nearly unlimited money of the nation’s most high-profile billionaire to increase turnout in the reddest regions of the country. country. That allowed the campaign to spend the saved money on everything from national ad campaigns to targeted outreach to demographics once dominated by Democrats.

The plan worked for both sides. Trump saw turnout increase in battleground states, and late in the campaign, the president-elect credited Musk’s role in the race. “We have a new star,” Trump said during his election night in Florida. “A star is born – Elon!” »

“The FEC’s decision allowed us to take more advantage of the soft money companies that were doing this work anyway,” said James Blair, political director of the Trump campaign.

Blair has served as the main bridge between the Trump operation and groups like America PAC – a far cry from the early days when super PACs had to decide their strategy without formally communicating with the campaigns they supported.

“By saving money, we were able to expand and deepen our paid voter contact and advertising programs,” Blair said. This, he added, included broad ad campaigns aimed at national audiences, as well as – and importantly – more targeted campaigns aimed at increasing turnout among black and Latino men, two areas in which Trump has seen gains considerable in 2024.

It wasn’t just Musk’s money that helped Trump. The billionaire businessman became one of Trump’s most high-profile surrogates in the final months of the campaign, often joining the former president on stage. His support gave Trump a clear window into the world of younger men who admire Musk.

Trump also benefited from Musk’s ownership of Many conservatives, Musk is a strong critic of social policies. media efforts to counter misinformation, arguing that such efforts amount to pro-government censorship.

Musk is now expected to play a key role in a second Trump administration. The president-elect said he would put Musk, whose rocket company works with the Defense Department and intelligence agencies, in charge of a new government efficiency commission.

A challenge to preconceived ideas

The work between the Trump campaign and America PAC potentially has longer-term implications.

This could lead to a sea change in the way presidential elections are conducted, upending long-held assumptions that campaigns lack full control over their field agenda, the impact billionaires can have on politics and the effectiveness of paid prospecting operations.

One reason for the skepticism is that this model has failed spectacularly in previous campaigns, most notably in Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ race in the 2024 Republican presidential primary against Trump.

DeSantis, more than any other candidate in the primary, relied on an outside group to buttress his campaign. The band Never Back Down was plagued by internal problemsand although he spent $130 million touting the Florida governor, he was overwhelmed by Trump and his election operations in Iowa.

However, one of the most persistent problems was the blurring the lines around what is legally allowed between the campaign and the outside group, an issue that has worried some members of the governor’s official campaign.

However, that was before the FEC’s decision, meaning Trump and Musk’s group were operating in an entirely different universe than just a few months earlier, during the primary.

The decision “allowed for a much more direct line of communication regarding canvassing,” Blair said. “That’s a real and crucial difference.”

Musk’s outside group was based in May, but it wasn’t until Musk endorsed Trump in July, after the former president survived an assassination attempt, that the group began its engagement work more clearly. A week later, in an interview with a conservative podcaster, Musk acknowledged the new committee and a host of senior Republican officials with ties to DeSantis joined the effort.

The group ran ads warning that if people didn’t participate in the election, “Kamala and the Fools will win.” The most publicized part of America PAC’s work has been Million dollar daily draw for voters which landed the group in court before a judge allowed them to continue. The drawing and subsequent trial attracted considerable attention, but much of America PAC’s work went unnoticed.

Door-knocking was arguably America PAC’s most impactful work, as Trump saw a surge in turnout in key rural areas of battleground states. The work was not without controversy, however.