Tesla's Crisis: Trump and His Online Army Ride to the Rescue

President Donald Trump was seated at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with Elon Musk sitting before him. Feeling generous, Trump proposed assistance and asked if there was anything his administration could do for Tesla, the company led by Musk.

For Musk, nothing sprang to mind during the initial 2020 gathering held in the earlier part of the year. These specifics have never before seen publication.

However, last week, Trump seemed to grant an incredible boon to the wealthy technology entrepreneur, the biggest donor In the 2024 election cycle and with his primary supporter, there occurred an extraordinary joint effort—half press briefing, half sales pitch—the president led this initiative. showcased Tesla Vehicles were present on the White House driveway as he declared that he had chosen one from among them — a deep red Model S — for his personal use.

The incident triggered an influx of backing from conservatives for Tesla, a firm grappling with a declining share value, annoyed investors, and consumer boycotts. sometimes violent protests At locations throughout the nation, as Tesla stockholders urge Musk to refocus on the company that crowned him the wealthiest individual globally, this occasion underscored how Musk’s growing partnership with Trump has simultaneously benefited and complicated aspects of his vast corporate holdings.

Trump and his associates are threatening those who vandalize Teslas, saying they will classify Anti-Tesla demonstrators should be considered domestic terrorists. "Should you decide to tamper with a Tesla, visit a dealership or take any such action, beware because we will be pursuing you," warned Attorney General Pam Bondi. said in a Friday interview on Fox Business. “And if you’re funding this, we’re coming after you. We’re going to find out who you are.”

In the meantime, Republican officials and MAGA proponents are encouraging their followers to buy Elon Musk’s electric vehicles. They made this appeal while posing next to a Tesla on Friday through the X platform. post Senator Ted Cruz from Texas remarked, "This might be the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed."

The campaign has led to an increase in "Buy a Tesla" search queries in numerous historically conservative areas, as indicated by Google Trends data, and Tesla’s stock price has shown modest improvement. However, this strategy could push away the progressive consumers who were instrumental in establishing its initial market position. Meanwhile, amid Tesla’s challenges, several top officials within the company have reportedly been exploring external opportunities recently, says someone privy to these developments but unwilling to be identified due to potential backlash.

Musk’s gamble that participating in and driving the MAGA movement could be financially advantageous is undoubtedly fraught with risk," stated Paul Barrett, who serves as the deputy director of the Stern Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University. "His enterprises might become so stigmatized in the view of numerous everyday people that their credibility could sustain irreversible harm.

“The danger for Musk is that he becomes the embodiment of crony capitalism,” Barrett said.

Musk’s partnership with the president has strengthened. since he poured nearly $290 million toward electing Trump and other Republican candidates in 2024, leading to several shared events and Musk’s involvement as head of the U.S. DOGE Service. Nonetheless, their cost-reduction measures—and Musk’s stance—have sparked significant controversy, with approximately half of Americans disapprove of Musk’s work within the federal government, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll.

Up until now, Musk’s association with Trump has been beneficial for his corporate ventures. However, Tesla’s share price has plummeted by almost 35 percent this year, wiping out the increases observed following Trump’s electoral victory, at which point investors viewed Musk’s closeness to the president as a significant boon for his enterprise.

Following the latest incidents of vandalism and protests, backers of Trump are rallying together to work towards reversing the downturns.

Lily Tang Williams, who is campaigning for Congress in New Hampshire, shared a video on X showing her inside the driver’s seat of a Tesla on Monday. "The radical left Marxists communists aim to silence you if you refuse to submit to their demands, viewing you as a threat," she stated to over 247,000 followers on her @Lily4Liberty account.

A different activist, ex-Republican congressional aspirantJR Majewski from Ohio, shared an image of his newTesla alongside the comment, "Model S Plaid. Gratitude goes to Tesla and Elon Musk."

Sean Hannity, the Fox News anchor, declared during his television program that he plans to purchase a Model S. He described this decision as "a sign" of support for Musk.

“It’s just a way of saying, you know, look what they’re doing to this guy,” he said. “Look what’s going to happen to the workers at Tesla, the salespeople, the people on the line that are going to lose their job.”

Certain business figures on the right, such as pharmaceutical leader and Ohio governor hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, have suggested that numerous businesses might thrive by exclusively targeting conservative consumers. Although Fox News has taken advantage of this idea, investors like Peter Thiel and Omeed Malik, who is a partner at an investment company associated with Donald Trump Jr., believe there’s potential for developing a comprehensive "anti-woke" or parallel market just waiting to be explored.

However, according to certain experts, this backing from conservatives likely isn’t sufficient to halt the downturn at Tesla, which has exceeded overall market trends by around 30 percent.

If Tesla's deliveries have indeed decreased compared to last year, I believe this decline is linked to harm done to their brand," stated Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management. "People hold firm views regarding Elon Musk, and these sentiments seem to have intensified in the past couple of months.

This week, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives fueled the discussion in an investor note entitled "A 'Moment of Truth' for Musk and Tesla With DOGE," pointing out that although Trump's presidency was anticipated to pave the way for self-driving cars, it has simultaneously ensnared Tesla in what he calls a growing political maelstrom.

The Tesla gathering at the White House on Tuesday marked the peak of a significant shift in the country’s highest-level political dynamic over the past twelve months. Five years back, towards the end of his initial term, Trump was keen to encourage Musk to pledge that his subsequent Tesla plant would be constructed within the U.S., thereby achieving a victory for local production.

A doubter of electric cars, Trump expressed his concerns during an Oval Office discussion with Musk, stating that although he had Teslas, there were no charging stations available for use. In response, Musk gestured to a Tesla executive present who then demonstrated to Trump the extensive coverage of Tesla’s Supercharger network displayed as numerous red spots on his smartphone map.

According to two individuals who requested confidentiality due to discussing sensitive information, the meeting was friendly and centered around Trump’s objectives for his policy. However, privately, one of these sources stated that Trump derided how extensively Musk’s wealth—primarily from his firms and utilized as loan security—was borrowed against. Additionally, Trump criticized how Musk’s businesses benefited significantly from governmental support such as subsidies and contracts.

"I could have told him to drop to his knees and beg,' and he would have complied," Trump stated about Musk during that meeting, as posted on Truth Social afterward.

Even though he was skeptical about electric vehicles and had an at times rocky rapport with Musk, during his 2024 campaign, Trump ended up depending on the entrepreneur’s substantial fortune to help advance both himself and Republican contenders into office.

For Musk’s detractors, the press conference seemed like an unparalleled gesture of support from Trump, foreshadowing potential conflicts of interest surrounding Musk’s ventures. It appears that officials within the Trump administration are already assisting Musk’s internet service provider, Starlink, which is owned by his company, SpaceX. took on roles At the Federal Aviation Administration, the organization looked into replacing an existing communication agreement with Starlink satellite internet terminals, as The Post had earlier reported.

Four Senate Democrats have asked The U.S. Office of Government Ethics was advised to consider investigating Musk and Trump for their promotion of Tesla. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia), who leads the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter To Attorney David Warrington, who represents Trump, on Wednesday, seeking information regarding possible ethics breaches.

Connolly requested the White House to specify which government workers were involved in arranging the event. Additionally, he seeks information about any communication between the White House and Tesla prior to the gathering, as well as details regarding any financial interests held by White House personnel in the automobile firm and their involvement, if any, in planning the occasion. The administration must respond by March 26th.

Many Americans find it difficult to pay for food, child care, and homes," Connolly stated. "In response to the growing economic challenges, President Trump proposed an automobile advertisement aimed at increasing Tesla's stock prices. This strategy was influenced by Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, who is both a prominent donor from his election campaigns and a government worker.

A member of Musk’s inner circle, speaking anonymously to discuss confidential matters, expressed skepticism that the challenges facing Tesla would divert Musk’s focus from DOGE, which has been tasked with completing its objectives by July 4, 2026.

The individual stated, "Elon believes this is the most crucial endeavor globally, and once he locks onto an objective with intense concentration, that's precisely what comes to fruition." They added, "He won’t be deterred from his path unless he personally decides to deviate."