The South Lawn of the White House was unrecognizable on Tuesday, transformed into what felt like a luxury Tesla showroom, complete with five gleaming electric vehicles — including a striking red Model S sedan that President Donald Trump personally selected to buy on the spot. Flanked by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the President inspected the vehicles, even hopping into the driver’s seat of the Model S and marveling at its futuristic interior. “Wow, that’s beautiful. Everything's computer,” Trump remarked, his voice filled with admiration. Musk slid into the passenger seat, grinning as he joked about “giving the Secret Service a heart attack” while explaining how the high-performance EV could rocket to 95 km per hour in mere seconds.
In a moment that blended business with politics, Trump announced that he would write a personal check for the car — priced around $80,000 — and leave it at the White House for his staff to use. His gesture wasn’t just about buying a luxury car; it was a clear, public endorsement of Musk, who has recently faced mounting backlash over his aggressive push to downsize the federal workforce through his leadership in Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“It is a great product, as good as it gets... Elon has devoted his energy and his life to doing this, and I think he has been treated very unfairly. We have to celebrate him," Trump said, praising the billionaire. He went on to call Musk a “true American innovator” and “one of the greatest minds of our time,” underscoring his belief that the entrepreneur’s contributions to electric vehicles and space exploration were unmatched.
The event wasn’t just a publicity stunt — it marked a pivotal moment for Tesla. The company’s stock had been in freefall, plunging by 45% over the past three months, a dramatic reversal from its record $1.5 trillion valuation following Trump’s sweeping victory in the 2024 presidential election. Just a day prior, shares had nosedived more than 15%, the worst single-day drop in years, largely attributed to slowing sales, supply chain setbacks, and public resistance to Musk’s DOGE initiative, which has proposed cutting hundreds of thousands of government jobs to streamline spending.
But by Tuesday’s close, Tesla’s stock had rebounded nearly 4%, seemingly buoyed by Trump’s vocal show of confidence. Musk seized the moment, announcing that Tesla would double its US production capacity. “It’s an act of faith in America,” he declared, positioning the expansion as a sign of resilience despite recent setbacks.
The backdrop to all this was a storm of controversy. Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), had suffered a massive cyberattack the day before, causing widespread service disruptions. Meanwhile, four Tesla Cybertrucks were torched in Seattle — an attack Musk claimed was part of a coordinated effort to undermine him and his businesses.
Trump wasted no time rallying behind Musk. On Monday night, he took to his own platform, Truth Social, blasting what he called the “Radical Left Lunatics” for orchestrating a campaign to “illegally and collusively boycott Tesla.” He praised Musk, calling him a “great American” who was “putting it on the line” to help the nation. “Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!” Trump wrote, in his usual emphatic style.
The President’s endorsement — complete with a personal car purchase — marked a remarkable show of loyalty to Musk, further blurring the lines between politics, business, and technology. Their alliance has drawn both praise and criticism, with some seeing it as a bold show of leadership and others decrying it as a dangerous mingling of corporate power and political influence.
As the event wrapped up, Trump hinted at more collaboration with Musk in the future, teasing upcoming talks about SpaceX and potential projects to overhaul the country’s aging infrastructure with Tesla’s innovations. “We’re going to do great things,” Trump said. “Elon is a genius, and America needs more of that genius right now.”
Musk, who has long positioned himself as an outsider to the political establishment, seemed to embrace his new role as an insider ally. “We believe in American innovation,” he said before the two men shook hands. “And we’re just getting started.”
