WASHINGTON — With Elon Musk facing escalating political blowback and financial troubles, President Donald Trump said he would buy a Tesla vehicle from his company, an unusual show of support from the president to his most powerful adviser.
It was the latest example of how Trump has demonstrated loyalty to Musk, who spent heavily on his comeback campaign last year and has been a key figure in his second administration.
The Republican president announced early Tuesday that he was going to buy a new Tesla as “a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American.”
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the vehicle was on its way to the White House. She said it was a “very exciting moment” and Trump would pay the “full market price.”
“Perhaps you’ll see the president in a Tesla later this afternoon,” she said.
Musk’s electric vehicle company has been battered by sagging sales and plunging stock prices. He continues to run the automaker — as well as the social media platform X and the rocket manufacturer SpaceX — while also serving as Trump’s adviser on overhauling and downsizing the federal government.
“Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!” Trump wrote on social media. “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,’ in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for.”
Others have also rallied to Musk’s defense. Alex Jones, a prominent conspiracy theorist, said that he bought a customized version of a Cybertruck that he’ll give away to a customer of his online store next month.
In addition to Tesla’s struggles, Musk has faced other challenges too. He said X was targeted by a “massive cyberattack” that disrupted the social media platform on Monday, and the last two test launches of his Starship rocket ended in explosions.
Tesla has faced sagging sales and declining stock prices as Musk devotes his time to overhauling and downsizing the federal government as an adviser to the president.
The White House did not immediately elaborate on Trump’s plans for buying a Tesla, such as how the purchase would be handled or where the car would be kept.
Presidents almost never drive for security reasons. Joe Biden got behind the wheel of an electric truck while promoting domestic manufacturing, and Barack Obama took a spin with Jerry Seinfeld in the White House driveway for a comedy show.
But regardless of the practicality of Trump’s purchase, his overnight announcement about buying a Tesla represented another step in how the president has blurred lines between private and public interests.
During his first term, top adviser Kellyanne Conway urged people to show their support for Trump’s daughter Ivanka by purchasing her retail products.
“Go buy Ivanka’s stuff,” she said. “I’m going to give it a free commercial here.”
Trump’s wealth and business savvy is core to his political appeal. The president promoted his products while running for office last year, and he attached his name to a cryptocurrency meme coin that launched shortly before he took office.
However, it’s rare to see Trump use his own money to support an ally, no matter how important they are.
Musk is the world’s richest person, with billions of dollars in government contracts. He’s also exerting sweeping influence over Trump’s administration through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and traveling frequently with the president.
During an interview with the Fox Business Network on Monday, host Larry Kudlow asked Musk “how are you running your other businesses” while also advising Trump.
“With great difficulty,” he said.
“But there’s no turning back, you say?” Kudlow responded.
“I’m just here trying to make government more efficient, eliminate waste and fraud,” Musk said.
Tesla has recently faced protests and vandalism. Police are investigating gunshots fired at a dealership in Oregon, and fire officials are examining a blaze that destroyed four Cybertrucks at a Tesla lot in Seattle.
At times, the White House has needed to play cleanup for Musk, who had never worked in public service before and has admitted that he’ll make mistakes along the way.
For example, Musk presented inflated estimates of fraud in government benefits like Social Security on Monday, leading Democrats to argue that he was planning cuts to the popular programs.
“Most of the federal spending is entitlements,” Musk said in the interview. “That’s the big one to eliminate.”
The next morning, a White House account on X criticized news organizations as “lying hacks” and told Democrats to “spare us the fake outrage” about reducing benefits.
“He was clearly talking about the WASTE in the programs,” the White House posted.
