Donald Trump reportedly meets with Elon Musk amid fundraising push

According to a report by The New York Times, former Republican president Donald Trump held a meeting with billionaire Elon Musk in Florida to discuss a considerable financial boost for his re-election campaign.

The Times reported that Trump had a meeting with Musk, who is among the wealthiest individuals globally, along with a few well-off Republican supporters on Sunday. Trump desires to have a private dialogue with Musk, who holds the positions of CEO of both Tesla Inc and SpaceX, as well as being the owner-executive chairman of X, the social media platform formerly recognized as Twitter.

The Reuters news agency did not receive an immediate response from either Musk or Trump's campaign when they requested a comment.

According to the Times, Trump is looking to secure more large-scale donors for his presidential campaign as he has recently suffered financial losses from being ordered to pay judgments in a New York civil fraud case and a separate defamation trial.

It is unclear if Musk intends to provide financial support for Trump, but the successful entrepreneur, originally from South Africa, has insinuated through his social media activity that he is not in favor of Joe Biden being re-elected for a second term, after Biden beat Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

Musk has always presented himself as being separate from politics, but he has admitted to selecting Biden as his choice for the presidency in 2020. Despite this, he has since voiced his disagreements with the president and had disagreements with the administration.

Back in November, the White House deemed a tweet by Musk as "despicable," citing possible anti-Semitic undertones. Later in December, Musk's mother pointed fingers at the president, saying that he was blocking her billionaire son's altruistic endeavors for the world.

Musk declared last year that he would not support Biden's candidacy again. As per the Times report, he has emphasized his objective to defeat the current president.

Having a reported net worth of approximately $200 billion, according to Forbes magazine, Musk possesses the capabilities to nearly independently balance out the significant financial edge that Biden and his followers are anticipated to possess over Trump in the forthcoming 2024 election season.

According to a report submitted to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Donald Trump's financial disclosures reveal that his cash reserves have recently decreased from roughly $33 million to slightly over $30 million, due to his active campaigning and subsequent success in the Republican primaries.

Biden has had an easier time securing the Democratic Party's nomination compared to his competitors. As per his report to the FEC (Federal Election Commission), his campaign ended January with approximately $56 million in cash. This is an increase from the $46 million they had in December.

This report has been complemented by Reuters.