PALM BEACH, Fla. —
Former President Donald Trump met with X CEO Elon Musk in Palm Beach on Sunday, according to reporting from the New York Times.
The New York Times attributed the information to “three people briefed on the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private discussion.”
One of those individuals told the publication Trump spoke to them about having a one-on-one meeting with Musk, who is currently listed as the second wealthiest person in the world according to Forbes, with an estimated net worth of $197.1 billion.
The meeting comes as the Republican frontrunner for president is facing more than $500 million in legal penalties between judgments in the New York civil fraud case against him and the defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll.
Trump currently has a net worth of $2.6 billion, according to Forbes. That’s nearly half of his estimated wealth when he was elected President in 2016 and was reportedly worth $4.5 billion. He is currently listed as the 1,269th richest person in the world.
He also is a major shareholder in Truth Social, a social media platform he founded in 2022 under his tech company Trump Media & Technology Group. According to SEC filings, Truth Social has lost $31.6 million since its launch.
On Wednesday, one day after the New York Times reported his meeting with Trump, Musk made a post on X regarding potential political contributions.
The New York Times said “a person close” to Musk said he has historically tried to distance himself from political parties. In 2017, he stepped down from two economic councils in response to Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, saying: "Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world."
Musk has also been a major critic of the Biden administration and the Democratic Party. He has made several statements against what he calls a “woke” agenda that promotes diversity and inclusion. Musk has also made several posts that seem to claim Democrats are pushing for more undocumented migrants to enter the country so they can illegally vote for their own party. There is no evidence to support this claim of voter fraud.
