Nobody seems to be able to figure out what Elon Musk is up to these days, at least in terms of his increasing involvement in the world of American politics. This is probably a situation that Musk is fine with and potentially enjoys. But that doesn't stop people from playing a guessing game. In the beginning, he just seemed to enjoy making a lot of money and launching grandiose plans to change the world. He was very successful at both. But once he bought Twitter, he grew increasingly involved in political activism. Lately, he's been very critical of the Biden administration, but does that mean he's now a Trump supporter? At the Wall Street Journal, Tim Higgins dives down that rabbit hole and tries to find a pair of political shoes that might fit the billionaire. (Subscription required)

Elon Musk appears to be strongly Never Biden. But does that make him for former President Donald Trump? 

For more than two years, Musk has made clear his displeasure with President Biden. But the billionaire behind the electric-car company Tesla, the rocket maker SpaceX and the social-media platform X has danced around whether he would support Trump in his bid for a second White House term.

Musk, who as recently as late 2021 was eschewing involvement in politics, has slowly gone toward the MAGA tribe on X, echoing increasingly alarmist and conspiratorial public stances on immigration and voting policy that now put him firmly in the Donald Trump wing of social media. 

Yet, while they have both embraced billionaire populism, they haven’t exactly embraced each other, as both men have accused the other of being full of it. 

Higgins goes on at length, providing a history of Musk's known interactions with and comments about both Biden and Trump. The picture painted by that history doesn't exactly leap into focus. Until he acquired Twitter, Musk had largely stayed out of the political mudslinging. He once famously wrote that "politics is tribal, not logical." But over the past two years, he has seemingly waded in more deeply.

One thing is clear at this point, though. Musk is no fan of Joe Biden. He's mentioned him on Twitter a couple of dozen times since 2021 and never in a flattering way. He seems to be particularly piqued over Biden ignoring Tesla during an electric vehicle summit in 2021. He's also bothered by the way the Biden Justice Department has launched multiple investigations into his various companies. 

Let’s not forget the White House giving Tesla the cold shoulder, excluding us from the EV summit and crediting GM with “leading the electric car revolution” in the same quarter that they delivered 26 electric cars (not a typo) and Tesla delivered 300 thousand.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 24, 2023

Musk's comments about Trump have, by comparison, seemed considerably more flattering, though not fawning. However, that hasn't translated into direct endorsements or financial contributions. He's already stated that he doesn't intend to donate to either campaign. Trump has taken some jabs at Musk as well. For the most part, Musk seems to be a fan of Trump's policies much more so than the man himself.

That probably shouldn't come as any sort of surprise. Elon Musk is all about doing business and the GOP is the party of business, favoring lower taxes and fewer regulations. Trump is also a wealthy businessman, and Musk can probably relate to that, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to be best friends.

Prior to 2020, everyone - including Democrats - seemed to be fine with Elon Musk. He showed up at parties with people from both sides of the aisle. He freely admitted that he voted for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, but changed his allegiance to the GOP ahead of the 2022 midterms. That's when the Democrats brought out the long knives for him. Does Musk care? I can't imagine that he's very bothered by any of this. He's living a pretty good life and it would be silly to waste much of it by wading into the swamp of Washington.