'A massive rebuke of the last two years of the Trump administration': elections expert stunned by Elon Musk lighting half a billion dollars on fire | Fortune

Elon Musk spent roughly $500 million on political campaigns over the past two years, a sum elections expert Larry Sabato called “a massive rebuke” after the results failed to deliver the sweeping wins the Tesla and SpaceX CEO had sought. The outlay, which Fortune framed as Musk lighting half a billion dollars on fire, underscores the limited returns of megadonor spending even as the billionaire remains one of the largest individual forces in U.S. politics. The article, published November 4, 2026, ties the assessment to the broader verdict on the last two years of the Trump administration, with Musk’s backing of Trump-aligned candidates falling short of expectations. The result matters because it tests whether concentrated donor money can still move national outcomes, and it sets up scrutiny of Musk’s future political giving and his influence with the administration.