By John McCormick
A key political event that started the process that led to this week's ugly public breakup between President Trump and Elon Musk took place just more than two months ago.
Musk was the largest 2024 election-cycle donor-contributing close to $300 million to help Trump and other Republicans-and was a high-profile supporter on the trail. But the president slowly began to distance himself from Musk after the world's richest man proved to be a political liability in an April 1 state supreme court election in battleground Wisconsin. Musk had campaigned heavily for the Republican that lost, while he and groups tied to him spent at least $23 million on the race. After that defeat, it started to become clear Musk, who had been deeply involved with downsizing the federal government, was not going to be an effective frontman for Trump's political goals.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 05, 2025 17:41 ET (21:41 GMT)
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