Elon Musk claims he sent Ashley St. Clair $2.5 million in child support

Elon Musk has claimed he has sent influencer Ashley St. Clair $2.5 million (£1.9 million) in child support despite not knowing if he's the father of her son.

Over the weekend, the influencer told the Daily Mail that she was selling her Tesla to compensate for the fact that Musk - who owns the car company - had allegedly cut her child support by 60 per cent.

The billionaire took to his social platform X on Monday to insist St. Clair had received a substantial amount of money from him.

"I don't know if the child is mine or not, but am not against finding out. No court order is needed," he wrote. "Despite not knowing for sure, I have given Ashley $2.5M and am sending her $500k/year."

St. Clair, who announced that she had a five-month-old son with Musk in February, responded to his message, claiming that he refused to take a paternity test for their child, who he allegedly named.

"And you weren't sending *me* money, you were sending support for your child that you thought was necessary... until you withdrew most of it to maintain control and punish me for 'disobedience.' But you're really only punishing your son," she continued.

"It's ironic that your last effort in court was to try to gag me while you use a social media channel you literally own to distribute derogatory messages about me and our child to the entire world. It's all about control with you, and everyone can see it... America needs you to grow up, you petulant man-child."

St. Clair, who is believed to be in her 20s, filed court documents requesting sole custody of the child in February.

In late March, her legal team alleged that Musk, 53, "financially retaliated against his own child" after she took the matter to court.

Musk, a senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, is also the father of 13 other children, whom he shares with three other women.