On the day the U.S. stock market plummeted on Monday, Trump's "favorite" Musk suffered heavy losses. Tesla's stock price fell by more than 15% in one day, the largest closing drop in more than four years. The market value evaporated by about US$86 billion in one day. The stock price was halved from the peak in December last year, and the market value evaporated by about US$800 billion from the peak. Trump issued a message in support of Musk and Tesla early Tuesday morning.
On March 11, local time, President Trump and Tesla CEO Musk stood next to a Tesla Cybertruck and spoke to the media on the South Portico of the White House in Washington, DC.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that he would pay full price for a Tesla electric car with a check, as a way to show his support for Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, who is facing opposition for trying to slash federal spending.
In a striking scene on the South Lawn of the White House, Trump posted on TruthSocial that he was "purchasing a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning to express his confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American." After that, he saw a series of Tesla cars available for purchase.
During the late trading of U.S. stocks on Tuesday, Trump once again mentioned his intention to buy a Tesla car, saying that Musk had been treated very unfairly and that he would regard violence against Tesla as domestic terrorism in the United States.
In the post, Trump praised Musk's work for the U.S. government, saying that "Musk is 'risking his life' to help our country, and he is doing a great job." He also praised Tesla as "one of the greatest automakers in the world" and said it is Musk's "baby", while "radical left-wing lunatics are trying to illegally conspire to boycott Tesla as always" with the "purpose of attacking and harming" Musk.
When pressed on Tuesday how he planned to pay for the car, Trump said he planned to pay by check.
“I pay the old-fashioned way — I write checks, and I like checks,” he said. “You know, I prefer checks to the modern payment system where all of a sudden money comes into your account. No one does that, and I like writing checks.”
And he also said that if someone offered him a discount, he would refuse it.
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