Elon Musk courts Europe’s surging far right
LONDON — Lawmakers in the United Kingdom are wrestling with a decision to fast-track legislation aimed at preventing foreign interference in national elections after far–right leader Nigel Farage suggested that Elon Musk could donate to his once-fringe right-wing party, in the latest turn for the world’s richest man as he flexes his newfound political muscle.
What began as a tech mogul railing against political correctness in the U.S. has evolved into what appears to be a global campaign of support for far-right ideologies, forcing governments on both sides of the Atlantic to reckon with Musk’s growing political and cultural influence.
Last week, Farage told the BBC that his Reform UK party was in “ongoing negotiations” with Musk after the pair met at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Musk, a South Africa-born U.S. citizen, is prohibited from making a personal donation to a British political party, but he could potentially contribute through the U.K. subsidiaries of his various companies, which reportedly made around £90 million in profits over the past two years.
“He wants to help us. He’s not opposed to the idea of giving us money, provided we can do it legally through U.K. companies,” Farage said.
The U.K.’s Electoral Commission has said Prime Minister Keir Starmer must strengthen rules around political donations to protect its elections from foreign interference, according to the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper.
Such reforms could limit the amount a foreign national can donate via U.K.-based companies.
While some U.K. lawmakers are reportedly resisting the demands, a discussion between Farage and Musk in Florida has sent lawmakers scrambling over 4,000 miles away, showing once again how the billionaire’s words carry weight well beyond the tech world.
Once a self-proclaimed centrist who donated to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Musk has increasingly embraced far-right ideologies, frequently decrying the so-called “woke mind virus” and championing anti-immigration rhetoric.
His transformation aligns with the resurgence of President-elect Donald Trump and the rise of far-right parties across Europe, including France’s National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, and the Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders.
His encounter with Farage is not the first time the U.K. has had to reckon with the billionaire’s politics.
Musk’s clashes with the center-left Starmer have been both public and inflammatory. Musk has accused Britain of being a “tyrannical police state,” amplified calls for a general election just months after Starmer became prime minister, and shared a video by a jailed far-right activist.
Across the English Channel, in mainland Europe, Musk last week openly endorsed Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far-right party under surveillance by the country’s domestic intelligence agency for suspected extremism.
The AfD’s leader, Björn Höcke, has twice been found guilty by a German court of purposefully employing Nazi rhetoric, though he has appealed the rulings.
Musk’s backing of the AfD coincides with Germany’s upcoming snap elections, called after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote.
“Only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk said on X, the morning before a deadly attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, where the suspect was revealed to sympathize with far-right movements, including the AfD.
In September, Musk praised Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a black-tie event in New York, calling her a “precious genius” and “even more beautiful on the inside than she is on the outside.”
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, he has interfaced with leaders that many consider U.S. adversaries like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal and other publications.
Musk met directly with Xi at a 2023 dinner in San Francisco. His Tesla electric vehicles are largely manufactured in China, including at its Gigafactory Shanghai facility, one of Tesla’s largest factories.
Asked about Musk’s influence on foreign policy, a former U.S. intelligence official told NBC News: “I’m more concerned about conflicts of interest. Under any other normal circumstance, that would not be permitted, but now we are in a different rule set when it’s Trump.”
And in the U.S., Musk has already shown signs of his power over the political process, pushing the country’s government to the brink of a shutdown after joining with Trump to effectively kill a congressional spending bill.
While Musk’s outsize role showed what he can achieve in Washington, his capacity to wield political influence may begin to stretch beyond U.S. borders.
