US President Donald Trump purchased a shiny red Tesla in a publicized buy on Tuesday, with the company's CEO Elon Musk by his side as they went through the selection process on the White House driveway.
The action was a public show of support for Musk's electric vehicle business, which has come under criticism because the CEO has used his position to promote the President's political agendas.
As Trump settled into the driver's seat of a Tesla Model X, he couldn't help but marvel at the car, saying, "Wow, that's beautiful."
Musk, who was sitting next to him in the passenger seat, jokingly said that their ride would cause the Secret Service a panic attack. The two chatted about the car's capacity to accelerate to 95 km/h in a matter of seconds. Nevertheless, because of security protocols that disallowed Trump from driving, he did not take it for a test drive. Instead, he said that the car would be left at the White House for his team to use.
Trump verified that he paid the full price of around $80,000 without any discount. "Musk would give me a discount, but if I do a discount, they're gonna say, Oh, I got benefits," he said.
The President mentioned two main reasons for buying the Tesla: its excellent quality and his belief that Musk has been unfairly attacked. "Elon Musk has put his energy and his life into doing this, and I believe he has been treated very unfairly," Trump said. He went on to explain further, "When I looked at what was going on, I said that I want to purchase a Tesla, and we just went to the front. He had four gorgeous cars there, and I purchased one in front of the press. It was a public purchase, and they're gorgeous and do a wonderful job."
Complimenting Musk's work, Trump called him a "patriot," saying, "He's done a great job.It's not that he's a Republican. Sometimes, I'm not even sure what he is in terms of his philosophy, but he's a great guy."
At the same time, Tesla has been losing a lot of stock value due to Musk's involvement with Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Anti-DOGE protesters have taken matters into their hands by organizing demonstrations outside Tesla outlets across the country, expressing their discontent with the attempts by Musk to cut down government expenditure. Protesters displayed signs with catchy slogans such as "Elon must go away" and "honk if Elon Musk should be fired," with some demonstrations turning violent.
Tesla's shares have dropped over 30% in the last month. Shares dropped 15% on Monday alone, although they pulled back a bit the next day to gain almost 5%—a paltry gain following a prolonged sell-off that started in January.
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