Trump turns the White House into a Tesla dealership to support Musk

It was yet another performance from the president that was hard to believe and even harder to forget. On Tuesday afternoon, Donald Trump turned the South Lawn of the White House into a showroom for Tesla, the car company owned by the world’s richest man, Trump’s closest collaborator Elon Musk. Trump and his “First Buddy” posed in front of a row of five of the company’s electric vehicles (four cars and an angular Cybertruck) for a press event with which Trump sought to show his support for the entrepreneur amid Tesla’s falling stock prices and the blowback that Musk’s entry into politics has generated.

Trump announced he’d buy a Model S, for which he said he’d pay full price (starting at $79,900, according to the Tesla website). “I don’t want a discount,” he added, before photographers captured him at the steering wheel of the red car, which Musk said was “literally like a golf cart that goes really fast.” Trump also listed the price of each model and the cost of its monthly payments, as though he was starring in a Tesla commercial.

None of this was business as usual, and nor is such public support from a sitting president for a private company, particularly given the breach in ethics the gesture suggests. The White House declined to respond to reporters’ questions regarding the issue — possibly because, according to Trump, who said he’d pay for the vehicle with a check, the car will remain on-site to be used by employees.

Tesla sales have tanked in recent weeks in reaction to the agenda of Musk, who is also the owner of SpaceX and the social network X, in his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). His mandate is to streamline the government, and he’s begun by firing thousands of federal employees and freezing millions of dollars in public services. This crusade has led to protests, Tesla owners publicly getting rid of their cars, and attacks against the company’s electric vehicles and charging stations. The company’s value has plummeted not just in the United States, but also Europe, China, and Australia.

“A great patriot”

“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, and he’s a great patriot, and he’s also done an incredible job with Tesla,” Trump said standing next to Musk in the White House garden. The event, which was conveniently livestreamed on X, was also attended by the magnate’s four-year-old son, who Musk has regularly brought to appearances in Washington, from the halls of the Capitol to the Oval Office.

The event will surely be added to the arguments of those critical of the conflicts of interest that Musk could be incurring as he signs fruitful contracts with the very federal government that he is working from within to dismantle.

Trump forecasted his intention to buy the car on Tuesday via his social network, Truth, just after midnight. The purchase was meant “as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American,” he wrote. It’s not clear when he’ll get the chance to drive his new toy. U.S. presidents are required for security reasons to use “The Beast,” the presidential limousine, which Washington D.C. residents are used to seeing pass by, protected from the front and back by a swarm of black, high-powered vehicles, on city streets that are closed to other traffic.

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