Donald Trump meets with Elon Musk amid electoral campaign cash crisis

Elon Musk has been critical of Donald Trump in the past. Photo / AP

Donald Trump reportedly met with Elon Musk in an apparent bid to shore up his campaign finances.

The former president met Musk, who is worth an estimated US$200bn (NZ$328b) on Sunday in Palm Beach, alongside other wealthy Republican donors, The New York Times reported.

Trump’s campaign is trailing Joe Biden’s campaign in cash reserves, starting in February with around $30m, compared with the Democrat president’s $56m, according to campaign filings.

Both Mr Trump’s campaign and the Super PAC aligned with his presidential bid spent far more than they received in donations in January. Much of the money has been spent on Mr Trump’s legal fees in several criminal cases, which he has appealed.

Musk has been publicly critical of Biden, accusing him of excluding him from an electric vehicles summit that other CEOs had attended, and raising concerns about his age.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a Super Tuesday election night party Tuesday on March 5 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The tech billionaire has generally avoided becoming involved in American politics, but made headlines when he decided to reinstate Trump’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter, which was suspended before he bought it in October 2022.

He has also accused Trump’s detractors of “Trump Derangement Syndrome”.

However, Musk has also criticised Trump, telling him in 2022 he should “sail into the sunset” and no longer participate in US politics. The same year, Trump called him a “bulls--- artist” and claimed that he had privately given the former president his support.

After building an insurmountable lead over Nikki Haley, his only remaining competitor, Trump has begun campaigning directly against Biden in anticipation of a head-to-head between the two men in November’s election.

Representatives for Musk and Trump did not comment on the meeting when asked by The New York Times.

The first rumours of a meeting between the two men emerged after their private jets were spotted at the same airport in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 2. The location of Musk’s jet was posted online by the Twitter account “Elon Jet”.