Musk shuts down reports he will donate £80m to Reform UK as Farage stays coy on ‘very supportive’ Tesla owner
Elon Musk has thrown out reports he will donate £80million to Reform UK – just days after party leader Nigel Farage called the rumours “pure speculation”.
The Donald Trump ally had been arriving on Capitol Hill in Washington DC when he was ambushed by reporters.
But when asked by ITV whether he’d be splashing the cash on Reform, he replied: “Er, no.”
Just one week ago, Musk had shared a post on his X social media platform vowing Reform UK would win the next General Election.
Responding to the news that ex-Tory minister Andrea Jenkyns had joined the populist party, with the caption “Reform will win the next election”, the Tesla owner said simply: “Yes.”
Then, The Times reported last weekend that Musk “could be about to put his money where his mouth is” with a huge £80m boost to Reform.
The newspaper’s report said Conservative officials believed there was a “credible prospect” that the tech magnate was looking to bankroll Farage and transform British politics via a “f**k you Starmer payment”.
One ally of the Brexit heavyweight said he would “not be surprised” if such a donation were made under the banner of “freedom of speech”.
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They added: “Elon admires Farage and wants him to succeed.”
Meanwhile, a well-connected Tory grandee told the paper he had “heard the rumours Musk wanted to support Reform”.
Though Farage then told GB News he had “absolutely no idea” about any planned donations, but claimed Musk was “very supportive” of him.
He said: “What I do know is that Elon Musk is very supportive of me and what I’m trying to do.
“He thinks that if Reform do well in the UK, we can bring about the same kind of change that he intends to do with Donald Trump in America.”
Musk’s vision for change? A sweeping list of cuts set to ramp up efficiency in the massive US Government.
He has already set a target of $2trillion (£1.6trillion) in savings, though he has not said whether that would come in a single year or over a longer period.
Both he and Vivek Ramaswamy, together the co-chairs of the Department of Government Efficiency, have called for firing thousands of federal workers, slashing regulations and more.
But back in Donald Trump’s first term, the President showed little interest in spending cuts – and federal expenditures grew from $4trillion to $6.2trillion as a result.