Tech billionaire Elon Musk pitches Trump new plan to police the vote: WSJ sources

Tech billionaire Elon Musk is considering an alliance with former President Donald Trump — and specifically, an idea to help him try to police the election, according to a new report.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday a potential advisory role for Musk on Trump's team "hasn’t been fully hammered out and might not happen, people familiar with the talks said, but the two men discussed ways to give Musk formal input and influence over policies related to border security and the economy, both issues on which Musk has grown more vocal."

"Musk, along with the billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, has also briefed Trump on a plan they have developed to invest in a data-driven project to prevent voter fraud, according to some of the people," said the report.

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"Peltz and Musk also told Trump of an influence campaign in elite circles that is already under way, in which Musk and his political allies host gatherings of powerful business leaders across the country to try to convince them not to support President Biden’s re-election campaign."

It is unclear exactly what form this "data-driven" attempt to police the vote would take. However, it is part of a long-term shift in Musk's politics; in the past he described himself as a moderate and donated roughly evenly to both parties, but in recent years has shifted hard right, at some points engaging with white supremacists on the social media platform he renamed from Twitter to X.

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He has also announced his intent to back the Republican Party this election cycle.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that he did not legitimately lose the 2020 presidential election and the outcome was stolen by fraud, which, while he has never produced any compelling evidence for this, was the basis of the Stop the Steal conspiracy theory and the subsequent January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"As recently as two years ago, Trump and Musk were publicly trading insults. But in recent months, the two men are developing a friendly rapport and talk on the phone several times a month as the election nears, the people familiar with their talks said," continued the report.

"The pair have held discussions on immigration, technology and science, including the U.S. Space Force. Their views and interests have grown more aligned, the people said, with Musk calling Trump directly on his cellphone. Trump has told Musk, one of the world’s wealthiest people, he wants to find a way to get him more involved if he wins in November."

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