A running list of Elon Musk's biggest controversies
Justin Klawans, The Week US
7 min read
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
At an event celebrating Trump's second inauguration, Musk raised an outstretched arm to the crowd in a manner reminiscent of a Nazi salute. | Credit: Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images
Tesla founder Elon Musk has been embroiled in many controversies. This has been turbocharged in the wake of his government position following President Donald Trump's reelection, and many in the U.S. increasingly view him as a lightning rod figure.
Trump and DOGE
Musk has generated significant controversy for his closeness to President Donald Trump. Musk contributed a quarter of a billion dollars to help Trump get elected in 2024, according to FEC filings, and has referred to himself as the president's "first buddy."
Despite reports that Trump may be growing tired of Musk's continual presence, the world's richest man has become one of Trump's closest allies and "was by Trump's side on election night at Mar-a-Lago," said Business Insider. Musk has been appointed by Trump to helm the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a federal commission.
Controversies surrounding DOGE began almost immediately. The commission "appears to be focusing on technology and personnel in its stated goal to cut government spending," said NPR. This includes major cuts to the foreign aid agency USAID and the Education Department, as well as an overhaul of the U.S. Treasury Department, which included a DOGE staffer being "put in charge of the Treasury Department's system that processes trillions of dollars in payments every year." Musk has reportedly also used his government resources to crack down on dissent; DOGE is allegedly "using artificial intelligence to surveil at least one federal agency’s communications for hostility to President Donald Trump and his agenda," said Reuters. It appears that many Americans feel Musk has vast control over portions of the government — even though they don't want him to; 51% of Americans think he has significant influence over Trump, but only 13% think this is a good thing, according to a YouGov survey.
Election financing
Musk "spent $280 million to buy an election for Donald Trump," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said at a press conference. Now he is "here to collect on his investment. He is here to seize power for himself." This is just one way in which Musk has used his vast wealth to influence U.S. elections.
The DOGE head has previously handed out checks to people who pledged a conservative political PAC. He also became razor-focused on Wisconsin's April 1, 2025, Supreme Court election by financially supporting conservative candidate Brad Schimel, and controversially attended an event in Green Bay where he "gave out $1 million checks" to "Wisconsin voters, declaring them spokespeople for his political group," said The Associated Press. In all, Musk and "groups he supports have spent more than $20 million to help conservative favorite Brad Schimel," though Musk's backing may have turned voters off of Schimel, leading to his eventual loss.
Apparent Nazi salute
At an event celebrating Trump's inauguration, Musk raised an outstretched arm to the crowd in a manner reminiscent of a Nazi salute, while saying his "heart goes out" to them. Social media disagreed on whether or not Musk actually intended to give a Nazi salute; the historic salute "consists of raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down," said the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which is indeed the gesture that Musk made. Many people, including Germans, said Musk made the salute on purpose. Whoever on a "political stage, making a political speech in front of a partly far-right audience, elongates his arm diagonally in the air both forcefully and repeatedly, is making a Hitler salute. There's no such 'probably' or 'similar to' or 'controversial' about it," said German journalist Lenz Jacobsen, per The Guardian.
While many people online accused Musk of making the Nazi salute, others weren't so sure — including the ADL itself. Musk "made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute," the organization said on X. However, the ADL later criticized Musk more harshly after he appeared to mock the controversy online. This was "not the first time that Trump or someone close to him has been accused of sending fascist messages, even if they denied doing so," Matthew Kriner, a former director at Middlebury College's Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, said at The Conversation.
Influence in geopolitics
Outside of the United States, Musk has also begun to play a role in influencing politics in the European Union. While not directly involved in policy making, Musk is "throwing grenades into Europe's political mainstream over issues ranging from immigration to free speech, creating a dilemma for governments," said The Wall Street Journal.
This includes weighing in on the debate over immigration in the United Kingdom and France, as well as calling for the U.K.'s King Charles III to dissolve Parliament. Musk also made controversial waves with his alleged support of AfD, a far right party in Germany accused of Nazi sympathies and labeled by Germany's intelligence domestic agency to be extremist. While AfD was boxed out of the government coalition following the country's election, it saw the best results for a far right party in Germany since World War II, as "voter support flocks to AfD," said The Wall Street Journal.
When it comes to EU leadership, many have "urged Brussels to deploy its full legal might to reign in the billionaire tech magnate," said Politico, including further regulation of Musk's X. This may come to fruition sooner rather than later if the EU plays hardball, as Europe's Digital Services Act "threatens eyewatering fines of up to 6% of global turnover, or even temporary blocks, in case of a breach."
Purchasing Twitter
Musk controversially acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, handing him control of one of the world's largest social media brands. Immediately after his purchase, there were major concerns over a few changes he made to the platform, which he rebranded as X.
Antisemitic and racist tweets spiked after Musk's acquisition; in the first 24 hours after his purchase, more than "1200 tweets and retweets" had spread antisemitism, the Anti-Defamation League said. Hateful rhetoric towards Black people also increased, with The Washington Post finding a 500% increase in the use of the N-word on X just half a day after Musk's purchase.
Musk himself also used the platform to spread hate, onlookers have alleged, and tweeted a link to an article spreading conspiracy theories about the 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. While Musk deleted the tweet hours later, his message "echoed a wider effort by far-right influencers and some conservatives to downplay and spread baseless theories about the attack," Insider said.
'Funding secured' post
Aside from X, Musk has faced legal battles surrounding the company that put him on the map: Tesla. One of the most notable involves a 2018 tweet in which Musk wrote that he had "funding secured" to take the company private at $420 per share.
Shareholders sued, however, when it was discovered that Musk had not secured the necessary financial backing at the time of this post. A U.S. District Judge said "there was nothing concrete" in Musk's tweet, per Reuters, and Musk had "[acted] recklessly" in posting about the funding. Tesla investors "lost $12 billion over 10 days as a result" of Musk's tweet, according to witness testimony from the trial obtained by Bloomberg. Musk was eventually found not liable for any losses experienced by the shareholders.
Mocking pronouns
Musk has made his opinions on self-selected gender pronouns clear on multiple occasions. This includes posting that he was not a fan of self-identifying pronouns "when someone is giving every possible visual cue for he or she, but then still insists on telling you exactly what you expect." Another notable instance occurred when he mocked the situation by posting, "My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci," a jab at the nation's top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, who has been targeted by conservatives for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Both of these tweets generated significant backlash. Musk shouldn't "mock and promote hate toward already marginalized and at-risk-of-violence members of the LGBTQ+ community," said retired astronaut and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly. Dr. Fauci is a "dedicated public servant whose sole motivation was saving lives."
