Elon Musk gestures as he arrives for a state dinner hosted by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in honor of President Donald Trump at Lusail Palace in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-05-20T14:40:23Z WASHINGTON (AP) Elon Musk, the richest person in the world and a key financial supporter of President Donald Trump, said Tuesday that hell be spending a lot less on political campaigns, a reversal that could be a setback for Republicans ahead of next years midterm elections. Musk disclosed his decision via videoconference during a Bloomberg forum in Doha, Qatar. It speaks to his possible disenchantment with politics after his tumultuous tenure as Trumps pick to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which has fallen far short of its goals for reducing federal spending. Musk has scaled back his government role to spend more time at his businesses, including Tesla, which have seen intense blowback. In terms of political spending Im going to do a lot less in the future, Musk said. Asked why, he responded that I think Ive done enough. Musks statement marks a reversal of the course he had set during the 2024 campaign when he was among the very top political spenders and immediately after.Musk spent at least $250 million supporting Trump in the presidential campaign, as the main contributor to America PAC, a super PAC that was active in advertising and funding door-to-door canvassing groups across the seven most-competitive states in the November presidential election. Musk relished in the publicity, campaigning alongside Trump at times and headlining some of his own campaign rallies on the GOP nominees behalf. And while he took credit for helping Trump return to the White House, Musk suffered a public defeat in April, after he became deeply involved in a Wisconsin Supreme Court campaign. Musk-backed groups America PAC and Rebuilding Americas Future spent more than $21 million on the April 1 election in support of the Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel. But Schimels defeat by 10 percentage points in Wisconsin, a state Trump carried just five months earlier, was a blow to Musk, who campaigned for Schimel in Green Bay the weekend before the election and had also pledged to enforce Trumps agenda in the 2026 midterm elections. A week after Trumps November victory, Musk said the political action committees he supported would play a significant role in primaries, adding later that he might help finance Republican challengers to GOP members of Congress who did not support Trumps nominees. How else? There is no other way, Musk wrote on X, which he rebranded after purchasing Twitter, in response to the suggestion of supporting intraparty challenges.An adviser to Musks PACs declined to comment Tuesday. Once Trump took office, Musk held a prominent role as an adviser and leader of DOGE. He and his acolytes in the department fanned out widely across the federal government to enact deep cuts to the workforce and spending, in some cases seeking to shutter entire agencies altogether.DOGE has pushed to fire tens of thousands of workers in downsizing at agencies, ranging from the IRS to Health and Human Services, and pressured tens of thousands more to take buyout and early retirement offers. And they sought to shut down agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. With backing from DOGE, agencies have cancelled tens of thousands of government contracts and grants that they say do not align with the administrations priorities. Some of those moves were done so quickly that they had to be reversed after pushback or court rulings finding that they were illegal.Critics say it amounts to a reckless chain-saw approach that could destroy much of the nations apolitical civil service, impair services for vulnerable populations, and halt critical research.DOGE claims on its Wall of Receipts it has saved an estimated $170 billion, but those savings numbers have been shown to be flawed and inflated in many cases.Musks role prompted intense pushback, including protests at his electric vehicle company, Tesla. Speaking to reporters earlier this month as he prepared to step back from DOGE, Musk noted the backlash. Being attacked relentlessly is not super fun, he said. Seeing cars burning is not fun, he added, referring to the instances of Tesla cars being smashed or set on fire.Musks announced intention to step back from political spending comes during multiple new business opportunities, including a deal to host the latest versions of his Grok artificial intelligence chatbot on Microsofts data centers.Meanwhile, his brain-computer interface company Neuralink is planning to implant its experimental devices in dozens more people and his electric-vehicle company Tesla is developing a humanoid robot that Musk hopes to one day send to Mars.Musk could change his mind about campaign spending. The 2026 midterm campaigns are just getting off the ground, while some candidates have not yet announced their candidacy for elections that remain 18 months away. But as of Tuesday, Musk said he did not expect to. Well, if I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it, Musk said. I do not currently see a reason. Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa. Ali Swenson and Jill Colvin in New York City contributed to this report. CHRIS MEGERIAN Megerian covers the White House for The Associated Press. He previously wrote about the Russia investigation, climate change, law enforcement and politics in California and New Jersey. twitter mailto THOMAS BEAUMONT Beaumont covers national politics for The Associated Press. He is based in Des Moines, Iowa. twitter mailto RYAN J. FOLEY Foley covers national news for The Associated Press and is based in Iowa City, Iowa. A 21-year AP veteran, he was part of the AP team honored as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting for the 2024 series, Lethal Restraint. twitter mailto