Musk Sends Ramaswamy Millions in Ohio Despite Their Clashes Over DOGE [View all]

Source: The New York Times

Musk Sends Ramaswamy Millions in Ohio Despite Their Clashes Over DOGE

Elon Musk gave $5 million to back Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign for Ohio governor, seemingly moving past tensions around the effort to downsize the federal work force.


Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy developed a frosty relationship after President Trump named them as the leaders of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times; Eric Lee/The New York Times

By Theodore
https://www.nytimes.com/by/theodore-schleifer
Reporting from Washington
July 15, 2026, 12:00 p.m. ET

In the weeks after President Trump named Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, the two men and their allies developed a frosty relationship. Just as Mr. Trump was inaugurated last January, Mr. Ramaswamy left the initiative, aimed at downsizing the federal work force, before it began, and Mr. Musk took charge.

But they seem to have buried the hatchet: Mr. Musk, the world’s richest person, donated $5 million in May to back Mr. Ramaswamy’s bid to be governor of Ohio, according to a campaign-finance filing made public on Wednesday.

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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/15/us/politics/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-ohio-governor-doge.html