By DAN MERICA Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk’s super PAC spent about $200 million to help elect Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the group’s spending, funding an effort that set 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 made easier by a March decision by the Federal Election Commission that cleared the way for super PACs to coordinate their canvassing efforts with campaigns, allowing the Trump campaign to rely on virtually unlimited money from the country’s most prominent billionaire to increase turnout in the country’s reddest regions. 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 Never Back Down group was plagued by internal problems and, despite spending $130 million to tout the Florida governor, it was overwhelmed by Trump and his campaign operations in Iowa.

One of the most persistent problems, however, was the blurred line between what is legally allowed between the campaign and the outside group, an issue that worried some within 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 founded in May, but it wasn’t until Musk endorsed Trump in July, after the former president survived an assassination attempt, that the group more clearly began its advocacy work. participation. 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 high-profile part of America PAC’s work was a $1 million-a-day drawing that landed the group in court before a judge allowed it 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.

A Guardian report found that America PAC’s efforts were filled with paid canvassers faking their work and claiming they knocked on doors they hadn’t visited. Multiple Wired reports claimed that some of these paid canvassers worked in poor conditions, including in the back of a rented U-Haul van, and were threatened into meeting unachievable quotas. The canvassers were fired after Wired’s report, leading to a lawsuit against America PAC.

A spokesperson for America PAC declined to comment for this story.

Musk, meanwhile, indicated during an election chat on district and at various judicial levels.