US President Donald Trump announced his intention to buy a Tesla to support his close adviser billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of the car company.
“That’s beautiful,” Trump said, getting into the front seat of a red Model S on Tuesday. The White House driveway briefly became a pop-up showroom, with various models on display. “Will I get in?” he asked the waiting media, before declaring the red Model S “beautiful”.
President @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk hop in a Tesla! pic.twitter.com/NRRm7IEQGf
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) March 11, 2025
Trump, who has revoked Biden-era efforts to incentivize electric vehicles, said he’d pay for the car with a check and would keep it at the White House for staff to use.
Asked if buying a car would help Tesla with its sales, Trump said, “I hope it does.”
Is it ethical for Trump to advertise Musk’s Tesla?
NPR notes that the president making such a public backing of a private company is unusual, and a possible ethical violation. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on if ethics rules were followed.
It adds that Trump’s purchase is also another example of Musk blurring the line between his roles in government, where he leads the administration’s government efficiency effort, and in the private sector, as the head of Tesla, SpaceX and X, formerly known as Twitter. His companies receive billions in federal contracts, even as the administration slashes spending across the government.
Tesla is in trouble. Is Musk’s politics to blame?
Tesla stock has lost half its value in three months, its share price tanking to an all-time low this week. The president had urged Americans to buy Tesla in solidarity with Elon Musk, “a great American”.
Shares of Musk’s electric vehicle maker have fallen for seven straight weeks, the longest losing streak since the company floated on the stock market 15 years ago, wiping out all of the gains it enjoyed after Trump was elected US president in November last year.
On Monday, the Tesla share price plunged by at least 15 percent to $222. Since the price peaked at $479.86 on 17 December, it has fallen by over half, wiping more than $800bn from its stock market value.
There are a number of reasons behind the drop. Those who deplore Musk’s political views and his close proximity to the Trump administration will doubtless cite this as the key factor.
Musk’s recent antics, such as wielding a chainsaw on stage at a recent political conference and making a gesture on stage that some interpreted as a Nazi salute, have not endeared him or his companies to a swathe of the public both in the US and beyond.
There have been protests and outbreaks of vandalism at Tesla dealerships and EV charging points across the US while, in both Europe and China, Tesla orders in January were down 45 percent year on year.
But, as Sky News reports, Musk’s association with the Trump administration is only part of the reason for the recent declines. Another key factor is that shares of Tesla were arguably over-priced to begin with.
In the two weeks following the US presidential election, Tesla shares shot up by 32 percent, adding $250bn to its stock market value.
To put that into context, that gain was equal to the entire stock market value of Toyota, the world’s next biggest carmaker after Tesla.
Related: Tesla Sales Crash in Europe: Is Elon Musk’s Politics to Blame?