Elon Musk gave around $75m (R1.3bn) to his pro-Donald Trump spending group over three months, federal disclosures showed on Tuesday, underscoring how the billionaire has become crucial to the Republican candidate’s efforts to win the November 5 US presidential election.

Musk, CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla, was the sole donor to the group in that time.

The billionaire, who said he has voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the past, has taken a sharp turn to the right for this election. He endorsed Trump in July and appeared with him at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month.

On Wednesday, Musk said in a post on X he will be “giving a series of talks” throughout Pennsylvania, less than two weeks after his appearance with Trump in the state.

He said people needed to sign a petition on his America PAC website to attend his talks from “tomorrow night through to Monday”.

Last week Reuters reported, quoting a source,  that Musk planned more campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania, considered a crucial state for both Trump and his Democratic opponent vice president Harris in the race for the White House.

Musk’s donations to America PAC propel him into the exclusive club of Republican mega donors, a list that includes banking heir Timothy Mellon and casino billionaire Miriam Adelson.

However, Reuters reported earlier this month that Musk has secretly funded a conservative political group for years, well before his public embrace of Trump.

America PAC declined to comment on the Musk donations. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

America PAC is focused on encouraging Americans who like Trump but don’t always vote to cast ballots this cycle, a high-risk, labour-intensive strategy by the Trump campaign.

It has also struggled to hire door knockers in several battleground states in part because by the time the PAC became operational, many other canvassing groups had already staffed up, sources briefed on the issues told Reuters.

The group had around $4m (R70.4m) left on hand by the end of September, the filings show.

Separate filings earlier on Tuesday showed Adelson donated $95m (R1.6bn)  to another pro-Trump super PAC, Preserve America PAC, in the same period.

Reuters