Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s phoney war with Starmer over US election interference

Critics said the twin assault on Labour by Trump and Musk – two experts at grabbing attention – had the hallmarks of a ‘phoney war’

Donald Trump and Elon Musk have been accused of launching a “phoney war” on Sir Keir Starmer and Labour as an attention-grabbing exercise as the former president struggles in his bid to return to the White House.

Former Labour ministers are among the critics of the tech billionaire and ex-president, who appear to be laying the groundwork for a claim of cheating in the election if Mr Trump loses on 5 November.

But even sources close to the Trump camp have told The Independent the claims of interference being made against Labour are “not being taken seriously at all”, and they have warned it will lead to questions about Nigel Farage’s role as a Trump campaign cheerleader.

The row broke out as Mr Musk declared war on a campaign group linked to the heart of Sir Keir’s government.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump have claimed that Labour figures are breaking US election laws (AFP via Getty)

The tech billionaire accused the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), founded by Sir Keir’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, of “violating US criminal statutes against foreign interference in elections”.

Mr Musk said he and his team are “going after” the CCDH and their donors after a report from the Disinformation Chronicle newsletter claimed to have uncovered a strategy document from the group which included a plan to “Kill Musk’s Twitter”.

Mr Musk’s remarks come hours after the Trump-Vance campaign filed a legal complaint accusing the Labour Party of illegal foreign campaign donations after it emerged that scores of party activists had flown across the Atlantic to help campaign for Kamala Harris ahead of the presidential election next month.

But the double attack has been blasted on both sides of the Atlantic.

Responding to the Labour activists flying into the US to help the Harris campaign, one source close to the former president’s campaign said: “This is not taken seriously at all. It’s not illegal. The campaign is making noises just for the sake of it but no one really cares. Plus if they go after them on this they’ll have to go after Nigel Farage for the same thing.”

Starmer has denied allegations of election interference (PA Wire)

Former Labour cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw told The Independent: “This is a political stunt from the Trump campaign and I am amazed the UK media are taking it seriously. People across politics have always helped out in their sister party campaigns as volunteers. It’s a complete non-story.”

A Tory ex-foreign secretary described the whole row as “ridiculous” adding: “It is more about domestic US politics; accusing the Democrats of having to look for foreign support... ridiculous, but that is Trump.”

Former international development minister Lord George Foulkes described it as “a phoney war”.

He added: “It is a long tradition that members help sister parties and the Tories also do this. What is unusual is that party leaders like Nigel Farage get paid flights to the US in direct support of one candidate.”

Mr Trump also risks being accused of double standards. In 2016, his campaign team emailed British MPs asking for money. If any MPs had sent him cash it would have been deemed foreign election interference under the same law Mr Trump is using to complain about Labour.

In one of the 2016 emails, Mr Trump pledged to “personally match every dollar that comes in within the next 48 hours up to $2m. This means any donation you make between $1 and $2,700 will be matched, dollar-for-dollar.”

As the row caught light in the US, Mr Musk was also enraged about claims that the CCDH sought out meetings with Democratic senators in an attempt to lobby against his ownership of X.

Morgan McSweeney has been dragged into the row (Shutterstock)

The organisation was founded by Mr McSweeney, who was appointed as Sir Keir’s chief of staff earlier this month, but he hasn’t been involved since 2020.

In response to the news, the prime minister insisted that he has a “good relationship” with the former president and any members of his party were in the US on an entirely voluntary basis, similar to previous elections.

“That’s what they’ve done in previous elections, is what they’re doing in this election. And that’s really straightforward,” he told reporters as he travelled to Samoa for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders.

But the row has already seen a Labour Women’s Network event supporting Vice-President Harris apparently cancelled after it was due to be addressed by Scotland Office minister Kirsty McNeill.

Sources in the Trump-Vance campaign have already suggested that the intervention could be part of wider legal action if they lose to Ms Harris on 5 November.

One source at a right-wing think tank in Washington linked to the Trump campaign told The Independent: “It is an incredibly foolish move on the part of Labour, and hugely damaging to the special relationship.”

The Trump campaign complaint cited a Daily Telegraph report suggesting Mr McSweeney and Matthew Doyle, Sir Keir’s director of communications, “attended a convention in Chicago and met with Ms Harris’s campaign team”.

The complaint also cited a now-deleted LinkedIn post from Sofia Patel, head of operations at the Labour Party, who wrote that “nearly 100” current and former Labour Party staff would be travelling to the US to help elect Ms Harris.

Mr Trump’s lawyers argue such support amounts to “contributions” from foreign actors, in violation of US campaign finance laws.

However, there is no evidence that the Labour Party has made any financial contributions to the Democrat campaign. Previous campaigns have also seen Labour members go to help the Democrats in America and Tories help their sister party, the Republicans.

Pressed on whether any Labour help for the Harris-Walz campaign could jeopardise UK-US ties if Mr Trump wins, Sir Keir said: “No.”

Sir Keir met Mr Trump for the first time last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, where the pair shared a two-hour dinner.

Mr Musk, meanwhile, has been locked in a long-running feud with the CCDH, with the tech billionaire last year bringing a lawsuit against the campaign group, seeking to blame it for “tens of millions of dollars” in lost advertising revenue after the non-profit reported on hate speech and misinformation on X.

But the case was dismissed by a federal judge in March 2024, with a CCDH spokesperson saying: “CCDH’s research held up a mirror to Elon Musk’s increasingly toxic and ugly platform, and rather than do the right thing and tackle the hate and lies disfiguring X, Mr Musk chose instead to sue the mirror.”

The CCDH has campaigned for improvements to online safety as well as having previously criticised multiple social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and TikTok.

The CCDH has been contacted for comment.