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World's richest man spent heavily to help Trump win

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Gave $20 million to a group that linked Trump to liberal

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Musk now heavily involved in Trump transition plans

By Tim Reid and Jason Lange

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Elon Musk spent over a

quarter of a billion dollars to help Donald Trump win November's

presidential election, according to new filings, underscoring

the influence one of the world's wealthiest people had on this

year's White House race.

The billionaire owner of electric car maker Tesla

and SpaceX gave $259 million to groups supporting Trump's 2024

campaign, according to new Federal Election Commission filings

released late on Thursday.

The huge donations made Musk one of the biggest underwriters

of a presidential campaign in U.S. history, helping him to

become a powerful political ally of Trump and someone who now

plays a key role in shaping the incoming Republican

administration's policy agenda.

Musk gave $239 million to America PAC, a super PAC he

founded to help turn out voters for Trump.

In late October Musk gave an additional $20 million to RBG

PAC, a group that sought to convince voters that Trump would not

sign into a law a national abortion ban, according to the FEC

filings. The group's name refers to the late Supreme Court

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal icon known for her

support of abortion rights.

Musk, who also owns the social media platform X, has emerged

as a close advisor in Trump's transition team. Trump has chosen

him, along with former Republican presidential candidate and

entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, to head a task force aimed at

slashing government spending and regulations.

Musk and Ramaswamy met on Capitol Hill on Thursday with

lawmakers whose support they will need to win the sweeping

spending cuts Trump has asked them to find.

The two men have called for firing thousands of federal

workers, slashing regulations and eliminating programs whose

authorization has expired, such as veterans' healthcare.

Musk has also been a regular fixture and Trump confidante at

the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago Florida estate during the

transition.