Elon Musk giving 'serious thought' to Reform UK donation, Nigel Farage says after Mar-A-Lago meeting
18 December 2024, 05:47
Elon Musk is giving “serious thought” to handing Reform UK a donation following a meeting with Nigel Farage in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
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Farage, Musk and Reform UK treasurer Nick Candy met at Trump’s sprawling Florida golf course to discuss how the Republican’s methods could help win support in the UK.
Following the meeting, Farage said billionaire Musk is giving “serious thought” to giving Reform a massive donation ahead of the next election.
It comes following reports Musk could donate as much as £100m to the hard-right, anti-immigration party.
Farage said: “Money was discussed. We are in negotiations about whether he can help. He is fully behind this. He is motivated enough by what’s going on in Britain to give serious thought to giving money.
“Our primary goal was to discuss what he did in the ground campaign. There is no doubt his influence made a huge difference [during the US election]. I learnt a lot about voter registration.”
Farage dismissed the idea Musk could give his party a single £100m donation he said more conversation about money would take place between the world’s richest man and the UK’s rising right-wing force.
After their meeting, Farage shared a snap of himself, Candy and Musk, writing: “Britain needs Reform”.
Musk replied: “Absolutely.”
In a statement, Farage said: “We had a great meeting with Elon Musk for an hour yesterday.“We learned a great deal about the Trump ground game and will have ongoing discussions on other areas.
"We only have one more chance left to save the West and we can do great things together.
“Our thanks also to President Trump for allowing us to use Mar-a-Lago for this historic meeting. The special relationship is alive and well.”
Labour has said it plans to “tighten up” donation rules in the wake of Musk’s interest in Reform UK.
Speaking to LBC’s Andrew Marr, Minister for European Union Relations, Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “We’ve already said we are looking at tightening up the rules on donations, that’s not a new thing.
“There is already a set of rules on foreign donations but we do need to toughen up these rules to maintain and enhance trust in politics.”
Any donation from Musk to Reform would likely be made through X in a bid to get around political donation laws by foreign individuals.
