Donald Trump continued his charm offensive on behalf of ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk by announcing that violence against Teslas and the car’s dealers will be labeled ‘domestic terrorism.’
The president turned the South Lawn of the White House into a Tesla showroom Tuesday with five different models – including the infamous Cybertruck – on display on the driveway.
Trump was making good on a his promise to purchase one of the pricey electric cars to support Musk, who is leading his Department of Government Efficiency efforts to cut back the size and scope of the federal government.
But Trump and Musk’s bond has caused the car manufacturer problems. About 350 demonstrators protested outside a Tesla electric vehicle dealership in Portland, Oregon, last week, while nine people were arrested during a raucous demonstration outside a New York City Tesla dealership earlier in March.
There have also been recent reports of vandalism on Tesla vehicles and showrooms that are under investigation.
While speaking out in defense of the world’s richest man, he announced his plans to levy harsh penalties on anyone who went after his most famous company after he was asked if the violence against them should be labeled ‘domestic terrorism.’
‘I will do that,’ he said. ‘I’m gonna stop ’em if we catch anybody doing it because they’re harming a great American company.’
He pointed out that he’d done ‘very big favors’ for other American companies like the National Football League.
‘Let me tell you, you do it to Tesla, and you do it to any company, we’re going to catch you, and you’re going to go through hell.’
Trump added that ‘we’ve got a lot of cameras and we already know who some of them are and we’re going to catch them.’
He said that the protesters against Tesla were the same people causing trouble at ‘our schools and universities.’
‘They’re the same garbage and we’re gonna’ catch them.’
Shares of the automaker closed nearly 4 percent higher on Tuesday, rebounding from the biggest one-day fall in four-and-a half years on Monday.
The president turned the South Lawn of the White House into a Tesla showroom with five different models – including the infamous Cybertruck – on display on the driveway.
The model Trump bought, which he said his staff at the White House would use, has a starting price of $76,880.
He and Musk sat in the car. Trump started the engine and Musk showed him the features. Alas, the president didn’t take it for a test drive, saying the Secret Service would let him.
He added he would pay by personal check.
‘I don’t want a discount,’ he said.
Musk said he would accept a personal check from the president.
‘His credit’s good,’ Musk noted. He had his young son X with him on the South Lawn.
Trump was making good on a his promise to purchase one of the pricey electric cars to support Musk, who is leading his Department of Government Efficiency efforts to cut back the size and scope of federal workers.
Musk has been heavily criticized since taking on his role in DOGE, while sales have also plummeted. And investors are said to be worried. Musk reportedly lost $29 billion in a day because of Tesla’s losses.
Trump defended Musk repeatedly.
‘This man is a great patriot and you should cherish it,’ he said of him.
Trump also used the photo opportunity to slam his predecessor Joe Biden.
‘You think Biden could get into that car? I don’t think so,’ he said.
Trump spoke for about 30 minutes as he checked out the vehicles.
He said of Musk: ‘I think he’s been treated very unfairly by a very small group of people. And I just want people to know that he can’t be penalized for being a patriot.’
He also shrugged off the declining stock market: ‘Markets are going to go up and they’re going to go down but, you know what, we have to rebuild our country.’
Trump announced that he would be holding the event with Musk in a post to Truth Social Monday night..
‘To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!’
Anti-Musk demonstrations have erupted across the United States with protesters attacking Tesla showrooms with guns and Molotov cocktails.
The president claimed that ‘Radical Left Lunatics’ are ‘trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby,’ in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for.’
Trump also thanked Musk for ‘being punished’ despite ‘putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.’
There have also been more than a dozen acts of vandalism against Tesla vehicles, dealerships and charging stations since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to police and local reports.
A Tesla showroom in Salem, Oregon, was shot at with an AR 15-style rifle in February. Suspected vandal Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, is also accused of causing major damage at the same store with Molotov cocktails in January.
Similarly, four Tesla cybertrucks were set ablaze overnight at a storage lot in Seattle’s industrial SoDo neighborhood, KING-TV reported.
Police in Oregon are also working with the FBI to investigate gunshots fired at a Tesla dealership in Tigard, outside Portland, last week.
While the motivation for the attack has not been confirmed, Tigard police said they ‘are aware that other Tesla dealerships have been targeted across Oregon and the nation for political reasons’.
The shooting comes a week after federal prosecutors in Denver charged a woman in connection with vandalism against a Tesla dealership in Colorado – including Molotov cocktails being thrown at vehicles and the words ‘Nazi cars’ spray-painted on the building.
Also last week, seven Tesla charging stations that were ‘intentionally set’ on fire in Massachusetts, according to the Littleton Police Department. No injuries were reported.
Graffiti reading ‘No Musk’ and depicting a sign that resembled a swastika was also found at a Tesla dealership, one day after protesters gathered at the facility.
Meanwhile, DOGE has faced intense scrutiny in recent weeks for its chaotic handling of layoffs, particularly its firing of key federal employees only to attempt to rehire them later.
Among those affected were workers responsible for maintaining nuclear weapons sites across the US – a move that has raised serious national security concerns and Musk and his allies are now face mounting pressure to reassess their approach.
Musk at Morgan Stanley conference last week, compared his influence over the federal government to that of a ‘corporate takeover’.
‘To understand the federal government, it is like a corporate takeover at scale, but one where the company is actually in much worse shape than any commercial company could ever be,’ Musk said.
Musk went on to say that ‘logically we should prioritize anything that can reasonably be privatized’, which is when he named the USPS and Amtrak – which he called Amtrak a ‘sad situation’.