Elon Musk's super PAC spent around $200 million to help elect Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the group's spending, funding an effort that set a new standard for how billionaires can influence elections.Related video above: Pennsylvania man wins $1M from Elon Musk after signing petitionThe billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO provided the vast majority of the money to America PAC, which focused on low-propensity and first-time voters, according to the person, who was not authorized to disclose the figure publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.America PAC바카라 게임 웹사이트�s work was aided by a March ruling from the Federal Election Commission that paved the way for super PACs to coordinate their canvassing efforts with campaigns, allowing the Trump campaign to rely on the near-unlimited money of the nation바카라 게임 웹사이트�s most high-profile billionaire to boost turnout in deep-red parts of the country. That allowed the campaign to spend the money they saved on everything from national ad campaigns to targeted outreach toward demographics Democrats once dominated.The plan worked for both sides. Trump saw key turnout surges in battleground states, and at the end of the campaign the president-elect credited Musk바카라 게임 웹사이트�s role in the race. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�We have a new star,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Trump said at his election night party in Florida. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�A star is born 바카라 게임 웹사이트� Elon!바카라 게임 웹사이트�바카라 게임 웹사이트�The FEC ruling cleared the way for us to gain more benefit from soft money enterprises that were going out and doing this work anyway,바카라 게임 웹사이트� said James Blair, the Trump campaign바카라 게임 웹사이트�s political director.Blair worked as the main bridge between the Trump operation and groups like America PAC 바카라 게임 웹사이트� a far cry from the early days of super PACs having to decide their strategy without communicating officially with the campaigns they were backing.바카라 게임 웹사이트�By conserving hard dollars, we were able to go wider and deeper on paid voter contact and advertising programs,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Blair said. That, he added, included broad ad campaigns aimed at a national audience, as well as 바카라 게임 웹사이트� critically 바카라 게임 웹사이트� more targeted campaigns looking to boost turnout among Black and Latino men, two areas where Trump saw sweeping gains in 2024.It wasn바카라 게임 웹사이트�t just Musk바카라 게임 웹사이트�s money that helped Trump. The billionaire businessman became one of Trump바카라 게임 웹사이트�s highest-profile surrogates in the final months of the campaign, often joining the former president onstage. His support gave Trump a clear opening into the universe of younger men who look up to Musk.Trump also benefited from Musk바카라 게임 웹사이트�s ownership of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and the company바카라 게임 웹사이트�s work to end many of the rules that hampered Trump before he was kicked off in 2021. Like many conservatives, Musk is a fierce critic of social media efforts to counter disinformation, arguing that those efforts amount to pro-government censorship.Musk is now expected to play a key role in a second Trump administration. The president-elect has said he will place Musk, whose rocket company works with the Defense Department and intelligence agencies, in charge of a new government efficiency commission.A challenge to conventional wisdomThe work between the Trump campaign and America PAC has potentially longer-lasting implications.It could yield a wholesale shift in the way presidential races are run, overturning longstanding conventional wisdom about campaigns lacking total control of their field program, the impact billionaires can have in politics and the effectiveness of paid canvassing operations.One reason for skepticism is that this model had failed spectacularly for past campaigns, most notably during Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis바카라 게임 웹사이트� run in the 2024 Republican presidential primary against Trump.DeSantis, more than any other candidate in the primary, relied on an outside group to buttress his campaign. The group, Never Back Down, was beset by internal issues, and despite spending $130 million to tout the Florida governor, it was swamped by Trump and his campaign operation in Iowa.One of the most persistent issues, however, was the blurring of lines around what is legally permissible between the campaign and the outside group, an issue that worried some within the governor바카라 게임 웹사이트�s official campaign.That, however, was before the FEC ruling, meaning Trump and Musk바카라 게임 웹사이트�s group were operating in an entirely different universe than a few months earlier during the primary.The ruling 바카라 게임 웹사이트�allowed a much more direct line of communication regarding canvassing,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Blair said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�That is a real difference and a critical difference.바카라 게임 웹사이트�Musk's outside group was founded in May, but it wasn바카라 게임 웹사이트�t until Musk endorsed Trump in July, after the former president survived an assassination attempt, that the group more clearly began its turnout work. A week later, in an interview with a conservative podcaster, Musk acknowledged the new committee and a host of top Republican operatives with ties to DeSantis joined the effort.The group ran ads that warned if people sat out the election, 바카라 게임 웹사이트�Kamala and the crazies will win.바카라 게임 웹사이트� The highest-profile part of America PAC바카라 게임 웹사이트�s work was a $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes that landed the group in court before a judge said it was allowed to continue. The sweepstakes and subsequent court case drew considerable attention, but much of America PAC바카라 게임 웹사이트�s work happened under the radar.Door knocking was arguably America PAC바카라 게임 웹사이트�s most impactful work, with Trump experiencing boosts in turnout in key rural areas in battleground states. The work, however, was not without controversy.A report from The Guardian found America PAC바카라 게임 웹사이트�s efforts were rife with paid canvassers faking their work and saying they had knocked on doors that they had not visited. Multiple reports from Wired alleged that some of those paid canvassers worked in poor conditions, including riding in the back of a rented U-Haul van and facing threats to meet unfeasible quotas. Canvassers were fired after the Wired report, leading to a lawsuit against America PAC.A spokesperson for America PAC declined to comment on the record for this story.Musk, meanwhile, indicated in an election night conversation on X that his PAC will stay involved in politics, 바카라 게임 웹사이트�preparing for the midterms and any intermediate elections, as well as looking at elections at the District Attorney and sort of judicial levels.바카라 게임 웹사이트�