President of the United States, Donald Trump, has given a show of support to close ally Elon Musk by publicly announcing that he had bought one of Musk's vehicles at a joint appearance at the White House on Mar. 11, 2025.
He then compared boycotts of Musk's products, as well as attacks on his company, to "domestic terrorism".
Supporting Musk
Previous appearances by Trump with Musk had been to celebrate Musk's contributions to the "Department of Governmental Efficiency" (DGE), but this most recent visit came with Trump lending Musk some support.
Trump endorsed Musk's Tesla electric cars, announcing that he would buy a red Model S sports car, calling the car "beautiful".
According to the Associated Press, Trump said to the gathered press that he would pay for the car, which costs around US$80,000 (S$106,700), by cheque.
President Trump, @Elon, and X leave the Oval Office and head over to the South Portico of the @WhiteHouse where Elon helped @POTUS choose his new @Tesla… pic.twitter.com/5jJLVXzRAi
— Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) March 11, 2025
Trump said that the car was a great product and that his purchase was a "show of confidence and support" for Musk, who he also called a "great American".
New company car
However, he noted that he would not drive the car, as he no longer drove anywhere, presumably because his security detail managed his transportation arrangements since he first became president in 2017.
Lamenting this fact by saying that he "loved to drive," Trump said the White House staff would use the car instead. the AP reported.
Trump had previously stated his scepticism for electric vehicles such as Tesla but changed his mind in August 2024 when he said he had "no choice" but to back them, as Musk had become a large supporter of his.
Nonetheless, he rolled back his predecessor Joe Biden's goal to have half of the U.S.'s vehicles be electric by 2030.
Musk and Tesla are enduring a spate of trouble at the moment, with Tesla shares slumping 15 per cent in recent weeks, resulting in the company losing US$130 billion (S$173.3 billion) in stock market value, according to Reuters.
However, it notes that Tesla stock is still outperforming competitors.
This was followed by an interview on Mar. 10, where Musk admitted that he was running his businesses with "great difficulty" while also working with the U.S. government.
DoGE this
Part of what ails Tesla is a seemingly adverse public reaction to Musk's actions while working with the government, with many owners displaying displeasure with Musk.
The Verge reports that activists are calling on consumers to boycott Musk's products, with many demonstrating outside Tesla dealerships.
Protests against Tesla are not limited to the U.S., with demonstrations taking place outside many European dealerships.
There are also reports of individual Teslas being targeted in arson attacks across the U.S. and 12 vehicles set alight in France.
Trump has likened such attacks to "domestic terrorism".
The Guardian quotes Trump as saying that the boycotts were "illegal", although he did not specify how they broke the law, instead blaming "radical left lunatics".
It also quoted him asking the press to "talk to us about some of the violence" that Tesla dealerships had encountered.
Trump vowed to "put a stop to it" as it was harming "a great American company", quipping, "Some say they should be labelled, domestic terrorists".
Top image via White House/Twitter
