Donald Trump, by all accounts, has not driven his own car for many years. Per a Quartz article in 2024, Trump has owned Lamborghinis and Cadillacs over the years and even teamed up with the latter brand for a Trump-branded series of limousines in the 1980s. However, as president, Trump does not drive himself, and he did not do so either during his four years out of office, as the Former Presidents Act of 1958 bars former presidents from driving on public roads.
But that didn’t stop Trump from vowing to buy a Tesla this week, amid the news that the electric car company, whose CEO is Trump’s close adviser, Elon Musk, has been struggling financially.
“To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!,” Trump said on Truth Social late Monday of the business leader currently taking a hammer to government through DOGE. “But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby,’ to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for.”
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Trump went on to declare that he was “going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk.”
Tesla is undoubtedly struggling, with the price of the stock — which comprises the majority of Musk’s wealth — dropping 45 percent so far this year. There have been protests at Tesla dealerships and occasional reports of Teslas being vandalized. Also, bumper stickers stating “I Bought This Before Elon Went Crazy,” and variations of that phrase, have been spotted on Teslas.
But would appear that the struggles of the company have less to do with organized protests or boycotts, and more with owning an electric car being traditionally coded as liberal, and Musk’s brand having now become toxic among what used to be Tesla’s core demographic of customers. The Trump Administration has also vowed to eliminate electric vehicle mandates and subsidies. Contrary to Trump’s statement, or, for that matter, Musk’s, when it comes to advertisers who have left X, boycotting is not illegal, at least according to decades of legal precedent.
Plus, another bearish investor case regarding Tesla comes from the opposite direction: Musk, first with his purchase of X and now with his new role in the government, doesn’t appear to be giving his electric car company most of his time or attention.
Photo courtesy of YouTube screengrab
