Elon Musk: 'I will' support Thomas Massie in expected Trump-backed GOP primary

Austin Horn, Lexington Herald-Leader on Jul 1, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

“I will.”

Those words, coming from the social media account of the richest man in the world, aligned multibillionaire Elon Musk with Rep. Thomas Massie in the Kentucky congressman’s ongoing feud with President Donald Trump.

It came in response to a former congressman asking Musk on Monday on the billionaire’s social network, X, if he’d support Massie in an anticipated Trump-backed GOP primary challenge.

Musk also responded to another post asking “who’s next” to donate to Massie.

“Me,” Musk replied.

If two of the world’s most powerful men follow through, that could make the Northern Kentucky-centric district something of a proxy war in Trump and Musk’s ongoing battle.

Though Trump and Massie have a rocky history, Trump’s anger toward the Kentucky representative reached new heights last week when Massie became the leading GOP opposition to the Trump-ordered bombings of Iranian nuclear facilities.

Massie was also one of only two House Republicans to vote against Trump’s massive budget bill, dubbed the “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

That opposition has led to multiple social media rants on the part of Trump and one anti-Massie ad, from a Trump-affiliated PAC, claiming Massie “sided with the ayatollah” of Iran in his opposition to the strikes.

Trump suggested in one of his posts that he would visit the 4th Congressional District to support “a wonderful American Patriot running against him” in the May 2026 GOP primary.

“Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is,” Trump posted last week. “Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him.”

The feud with the president has proven beneficial for Massie’s campaign account. Massie posted on social media Monday a map of donations that rolled in last week: 3,417 donors chipped in nearly $309,000 in those seven days.

In 2024, Musk donated nearly $300 million to Republican candidates, Trump chief among them. He also led the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency for several months before leaving Washington on a sour note with Trump. Since then, the two titans of industry and politics have traded barbs in public.

When asked about Musk in a press appearance Tuesday, Trump made a reference to federal subsidies for Musk’s companies, and that the savings-oriented Department of Government Efficiency “is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”

Musk’s embrace of Massie, who has 1.3 million followers on X, has been notable on the platform since Musk’s recent turn toward conservative politics.

Like Massie, Musk is a debt hawk who has expressed disappointment at the amount of spending in the budget bill making its way through Congress now. So disappointed, in fact, that he said if the bill passes he intends to start a new party called the “America Party.”

He also threatened to back primary challenges to nearly every Republican if the “Big, Beautiful Bill” passes.

Massie’s anticipated primary battle has piqued the interest of many Northern Kentuckians. Though he’s proven impervious to challenges before, some see an opening if Trump full-throatedly backs a viable challenger.

So far, Massie has just one GOP challenger: Niki Lee Ethington, a relatively unknown Spencer County resident.

Trump and a team of consultants, led by former Trump 2024 co-manager Chris LaCivita, have been reportedly working to find another challenger. State Sen. Aaron Reed, of Shelby County, has interacted with LaCivita on social media as of late, sparking speculation that he’ll be the challenger; Reed has not responded to press inquiries on that front.

Massie, for his part, acknowledges Trump’s popularity in the district but doesn’t think a challenger will knock him off.

“If I were running against Donald Trump, I’d be in trouble. It’d be a fair fight and he might even have the upper hand,” Massie told the Herald-Leader last week. “The thing is, I’m not running against Donald Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump aren’t moving to the district I’m running (in).

“I’m going to be running against somebody nobody’s ever heard of, and I’ve got enough name ID and brand right now that somebody’s gonna have to work really hard to erode that.”

_____