See you soon. The President of the United States personally brought the goods, and the White House turned into a Tesla showroom; Trump became the chief salesman, supporting the big financier Musk. But can he drive Tesla's U.S. sales back to growth? Yesterday morning, five Teslas of different colors and styles drove to the South Lawn of the White House, Model S, X, 3, Y and CyerbTruck. Tesla displays all of its models on sale on the South Lawn of the White House. Tesla CEO Musk acted as a shopping guide, introducing each model to U.S. President Trump in detail.
Trump still wears a blue suit and red tie, while Musk is dressed in cool black: black sunglasses, black MAGA hat, black T-shirt, and black jacket. By his side is still his four-year-old son X, whom he has with Canadian singer Grimes. The father and son are inseparable in almost all public appearances.
Accompanied by Musk, Trump called the cars "very beautiful" and particularly praised Tesla's unique Cybertruck. "When I first saw it, I said, 'This is such a cool design,'" Trump said.
In addition to working hard to bring goods to Tesla, Trump also characterized the recent violent attacks against Tesla across the United States as "domestic terrorism" and praised Tesla full of praise. "They are hurting a great American company. Musk built a great company and should not be punished for being patriotic."
The media noticed that Trump was holding a sales flyer, which contained a detailed price list of each Tesla model, as well as an introduction to the main selling points, including "Tesla can be purchased for only $299 per month" and "all vehicles have self-driving capabilities." It seems that the owner of the White House is taking this sales event very seriously. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino broadcast the event live on Musk's social media platform X.
Speaking of rising, Trump got into the driver's seat of a red Model S, and Musk immediately got into the passenger seat and introduced the vehicle's functions and central control screen to the president in detail. In the end, Trump chose this electric car, which was priced at $73,500 on the official website, and he wrote a check to pay the full price.
This isn't Trump's first test ride in a Tesla. Last summer, American conservative Internet celebrity Aldin Ross presented a customized CyberTruck to Trump, who was still a presidential candidate, in Florida. The car was printed with a photo of Trump raising his fist after the assassination and the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) logo.
That live broadcast attracted more than 500,000 people online at the same time, which was a win-win for both parties. Trump has clearly mentioned that he hopes to attract young male voters through Internet celebrities. Judging from the final election results, he also achieved this goal. However, Trump was never seen using the CyberTruck again. Perhaps Trump will not use the red Model S purchased this time.
During the entire shopping event, Trump did not test drive Tesla. On the one hand, the White House forecourt is not a suitable test drive venue. On the other hand, as the President of the United States, it is impossible for him to take a test drive on the streets of Washington, D.C., because it does not comply with Secret Service security regulations.
Although the stainless steel body of the CyberTruck is said to be able to block bullets, in actual tests conducted by internet celebrity bloggers, the CyberTruck body can only block bullets of caliber 9mm and below, and is powerless against large-caliber pistols and rifles. Unless Musk customizes it specifically for Trump, it is impossible for Cybertruck to become a White House travel vehicle.
To give a brief introduction, the President of the United States’ car is highly customized by General Motors in accordance with the requirements of the Secret Service, and is also known as the “Beast.” Its windows are made of multi-layer composite bullet-proof glass with a thickness between 7.6 cm and 13 cm, which can withstand attacks from pistols, rifle bullets and even some armor-piercing projectiles. The thickness of the body armor reaches 20 centimeters and is made of steel plates, titanium alloys, ceramics and other composite materials. This armor is not only bulletproof, it can even withstand attacks from bombs or grenades. The armor-reinforced chassis can also block mine explosions.
Change attitude to support big donors
Interestingly, Trump had always been a skeptic of electric vehicles before last summer, and even said in July last year that he thought electric vehicles were unreliable. "The manufacturing cost of electric vehicles is high and it is not the future. What will happen if there is no power." He mocked and criticized the many policies introduced by the Biden administration to popularize electric vehicles, announcing that he would abolish all incentives and subsidies as soon as he took office.
But after getting Musk's help, Trump also changed his attitude towards electric vehicles; he changed his words and said that he "respects the choice, but it should not be promoted by the government." After taking office, he immediately abolished the Biden administration's investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure projects, and even canceled charging piles in government buildings.
However, the Trump administration's repeal of electric vehicle subsidies and abandonment of building public charging facilities will have little impact on Musk. Tesla is the only electric car company in the industry that can achieve profitability. Removing subsidies will only hit other electric car brands and cause other car companies to reduce or even abandon their investment in electric cars. Tesla has the most complete charging network in the United States and does not need the government to build charging facilities.
Trump’s efforts to bring goods are in sharp contrast to the Biden administration’s indifference to Musk. Because Musk strongly resists auto industry unions, the Biden administration, which relies on union relations, has a cold relationship with him. In 2021, the Biden administration’s electric vehicle industry summit did not even invite Tesla to participate. Since then, Biden has gone to Detroit many times to promote electric vehicles for traditional car companies, but he has never paid Tesla any attention. This is one of the many reasons why Musk broke with the Democratic Party.
Of course, this delivery of goods is Trump’s reward for the big financier Musk. As we all know, Musk invested more than $250 million in campaign funds for Trump in last year’s election, and even used his social media X (previously Twitter) to campaign for him. What needs to be emphasized is that Musk not only fully supports Trump, but also completely breaks with the Democrats, which is in sharp contrast to the usual "bet on both sides and swing at any time" attitude of the super rich.
Musk's huge investment paid off. He became the most politically powerful shadow vice president in the United States. He can take his children to and from the White House at will, and even ride on Air Force One, the special plane of the President of the United States. More importantly, after Trump took office, he appointed Musk to be in charge of the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE), overriding the U.S. federal government and carrying out significant budget and personnel cuts.
However, being highly tied to the Trump administration has also caused trouble for Musk. His "Department of Government Efficiency" slashed budgets across government departments and carried out large-scale layoffs. Budget cuts have directly affected the U.S. government’s investment and subsidies in medical care, education, scientific research, etc., and touched the vital interests of ordinary people.
According to incomplete statistics, DOGE has laid off about 100,000 employees in the U.S. federal government so far. These layoffs, primarily through buyouts and layoffs, span multiple federal agencies. In addition, DOGE plans to further eliminate approximately 300,000 federal positions in the future, which may result in a total of nearly 1 million job losses, including federal employees and related contractors.
Tesla hit by protests across America
As you can imagine, unemployed government employees and ordinary people who have lost their benefits have directed their anger at Musk. At the same time, super-rich people like Musk are the biggest beneficiaries of the tax cuts planned by the Trump administration. This intensified the public's anger. But what they can do is direct their anger at Musk's Tesla.
It is no exaggeration to say that demonstrations against Musk's violent layoffs have taken place in almost every state, and Tesla stores have become the preferred protest location. However, there are police officers with live ammunition to maintain order, and no protests have gotten out of control so far. Only a few protesters who rushed into Tesla were arrested in New York.
In addition to normal protests, violent sabotage activities such as shop smashing, shootings, and arson also occurred one after another. In the month and a half since Trump took office, there have been more than a dozen serious malicious attacks on Tesla stores and supercharging stations across the United States.
From California, Oregon, and Washington on the west coast to Colorado in the middle, to New York and Massachusetts on the east coast, Tesla stores were vandalized and spray-painted, Tesla charging stations had their cables cut, and even set on fire. Just this Monday, two Tesla maintenance delivery centers in Seattle were vandalized. Several Teslas were set on fire, and in another, all Teslas were spray-painted with swastikas in red paint.
Tesla owners in the United States are also worried about the safety of their cars. Nowadays, if you drive a Tesla out in a big city in the United States, you will not only get the middle finger and humiliation, but you may also have your windows smashed, Nazi words spray-painted on the car, or even set on fire. Some owners also received threatening leaflets, asking them to get rid of their Teslas as soon as possible.
Ironically, current American Tesla owners not only put stickers on their car bodies such as "I bought the car before Musk went crazy" and "I am also against Musk" to show that they have drawn a clear line with Musk, they have even begun to remove the Tesla logo and disguise their cars as Audi, Honda and other fuel models.
Musk bets $100 million on politics
On Monday, Tesla’s stock price plummeted 15%. Musk is clearly anxious about the situation. In his view, the current protests and destruction against Tesla are not just a spontaneous resistance by consumers, but an attack funded by the Democratic Party. On Monday, Musk publicly accused the Democratic Party’s main donor and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman of paying for thugs to storm Tesla stores.
Hoffman responded directly: "This is another false accusation made by Elon against me: I have never funded anyone's protests against Tesla. I do not support violence. But it is clear that Americans are angry at him - it is much easier to explain their anger than to admit that there are consequences for the behavior."
Musk replied: "Describe your favorite island vacation experience." Apparently, he once again hinted that Huffman had visited the private island of notorious sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
It is worth mentioning that the two had started a business together at PayPal and were both co-founders. Hoffman served as COO, and Musk served as CEO until Peter Thiel kicked him out. But now the relationship between the two has completely broken down due to their political stance.
It was against this background that Trump stood up to support Musk and decided to personally take delivery of Tesla. He said on his social platform Truth on Monday that boycotting Musk's electric car company is "a group of radical left-wing lunatics" and promised "I want to buy a brand new Tesla."
Of course, Musk did not let Trump bring goods in vain. He pledged to donate $100 million to Trump's political action committee to help the Republican Party maintain its advantage in the mid-term elections. Obviously, Musk’s interests are highly bound to the Trump administration, and he must continue to bet on supporting the Republican Party to maintain its advantage in future elections.
After Trump personally brought the goods, Tesla's stock price rebounded, and closed up 8% on Wednesday. However, compared with the historical high of US$480 in mid-December last year, the current stock price has almost halved to US$248, completely giving up the gains brought about by Trump's election, and the market value has also shrunk sharply from US$1.6 trillion to less than US$800 billion.
Even Tesla board members are rushing to sell Tesla. Tesla director James Murdoch also sold about $13 million in Tesla shares this week after Musk's brother Kimbal Musk and Tesla CFO Taneja Vaibhav sold for cash.
The person who cashed out the most was Tesla Chairman Robyn Denholm. She sold $33 million worth of Tesla shares last week, and has cashed out more than $100 million in total over the past three months. It seems that these Tesla insiders are not optimistic about the future growth space and are eager to settle down.
It is easy to double production capacity but difficult to increase sales
Investors are worried not only about Tesla's situation in the United States, but also about their difficulties in the global market. Tesla's sales in Europe have collapsed due to Musk's public support for Germany's far-right political parties and constant conflicts with European leaders. In January this year, Tesla’s sales in the European market fell by 45%, while total electric vehicle sales increased by 37% during the same period. Tesla’s sales in Germany, Europe’s largest market, fell 45% in January and 70% in February.
Sales outside Europe are also falling. Tesla sales in Australia fell by more than 70% year-on-year in February. It is worth mentioning that Tesla’s sales in the Chinese market fell by 49% in February, setting the lowest delivery since July 2022. This has further exacerbated investors' concerns about Tesla.
China was Tesla's only market that maintained growth last year, accounting for only 40% of Tesla's sales. Compared with other markets, Musk's personal image will not affect Chinese consumers' car-buying psychology, but Tesla faces the most fierce market competition in the world here, especially from local car companies such as BYD. BYD's new energy vehicle sales increased by 161% last month, reaching 318,000 vehicles.
With the support of the President and the White House, Musk also confidently announced that Tesla plans to double the production of U.S. factories in the next two years. The current annual production capacity of Tesla's U.S. factory is about 1 million vehicles, more than 60% of which comes from the factory in Fremont, California. Musk plans to continue to expand the Austin, Texas factory to increase production capacity.
But Tesla's biggest problem now is not production capacity, but the continued decline in sales. Tesla's total global sales last year were only 1.79 million vehicles, down 1% year-on-year; the U.S. market even fell by 5.5%. If Musk really wants to double the production capacity of Tesla's U.S. factory to an annual output of 2 million vehicles, the premise is that sales in the U.S. market will increase significantly. (Because Tesla’s sales in China and Europe mainly come from the Shanghai factory in China)
Of course, Trump can instruct U.S. federal law enforcement agencies to severely crack down on violent crimes against Tesla stores, but he cannot stop people from protesting in front of Tesla stores, and it is even harder to resolve people's resentment against Musk. Moreover, it is still unknown how much Trump's personal delivery of goods will boost Tesla's sales. Can Trump, the advertising spokesperson, encourage his supporters to buy electric cars?
In an interview with Fox on Monday, Musk was asked how he now manages his many companies. On the same day, the X platform was also attacked by cyber hackers on a large scale. "Very difficult," the world's richest man replied. He then smiled briefly, sighed, and then paused for a long moment.