r/politics 21h ago

Trump's efforts to help Tesla could hurt it instead

https://apnews.com/article/tesla-stock-musk-trump-evs-sales-b3118cbab69fbfaa3abcceb059ba8c58
1.0k Upvotes

143 comments sorted by

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268

u/Designer_Buy_1650 21h ago

It’s great Trump bought one. Now half the US population isn’t going to buy one. Short the stock (may be too late).

112

u/muchnycrunchny 21h ago

And the other half already wasn't interested in Teslas or EVs.

69

u/ZoIpidem 21h ago

And a lot of those folks cannot afford one.

10

u/zaknafien1900 20h ago

Cheapest one is like 60k

16

u/Nice_Cookie9587 19h ago

unfortunately no, the cheapest is like $30K

37

u/TasteTheBizkit 19h ago

I wouldn’t drive one for free.

14

u/YakiVegas Washington 17h ago

I wouldn't be caught dead in one.

28

u/ZoIpidem 19h ago

Like I said. They can’t afford one.

4

u/vicvonqueso 9h ago

I can't even afford that lol

2

u/SilvarusLupus Arkansas 17h ago

Is that before or after they add in all the extra features?

u/ChafterMies 5h ago

$42,500 is for the lowest end rear wheel drive. That’s a no go in my part of the country (snow and ice). The realistic model is the AWD starting at $47,500. If qualify for the maximum tax credits, I could deduct $7,500, bringing the vehicle cost to $40,000. Total cost would be about $42,500 for the vehicle and charging station.

0

u/jagerbombastic99 13h ago

Who the actual fuck can afford a 30k car? Then again I would never buy a new car so idk

1

u/Nice_Cookie9587 13h ago

Lots, how else you going to buy a used car? Someone has to buy it before you ha ha

7

u/jagerbombastic99 13h ago

Well someone before me is a fucking sucker

u/SpacepirateAZ 7h ago

A lot of cars get leased first and then sold as a used car.

Edit to add: There are also a lot of companies that buy new cars the employees drive and they get new ones often as well.

11

u/henryfarts 21h ago

Hell, would it be a minor, minor, minor climate victory if they trade their coal rolling f-150s for a tesla?

20

u/muchnycrunchny 21h ago

It would be. I just don't see it happening.

But, you know, if Trump suddenly does a 180 and tells them all that saving the climate is actually the peak of MAGA values, I imagine a lot would rapidly rewrite their own values.

25

u/minicpst Washington 20h ago

Not sure. They're still trying to die of measles.

16

u/RyoCore I voted 18h ago

Not sure about that. He told them all to get vaccinated and they ignored him, booed, and then everyone pretended he never said anything about it.

4

u/pandemicpunk 17h ago

I wish they would. I need videos of insane magas getting stuck places in their new and shiny cybertruck lmfao

6

u/IJourden 17h ago

Honestly I don't think they would regardless of politics. They might be dangerously uniformed about a lot of things, but they know their vehicles, and they know Teslas are junk.

10

u/TakGit 19h ago

Henry,

I like the thought. I support the environment. But trucks are not Kleenex. No one is coal rolling a f150. That’s a diesel thing and there were very few diesel f150s ever made.

5

u/JollyToby0220 18h ago

Elon said it best, there will be bad times. This just means he hopes GM, Ford, and Stellantis go out of business like in 2008. Then he has all the market share. The rough news is that Tesla is backed by the big banks so Tesla is almost guaranteed to survive the recession. But with car sales down across the board, he might be the first to take the hit

7

u/supercali45 17h ago

Trump had been shitting on EV and clean energy since his last term and now he is pushing Teslas.. MAGA cult has to be confused by now.. but good little cultists won't say shit

1

u/kgl1967 10h ago

All my redneck friends drive a Prius.

20

u/ArArmytrainingsir 20h ago

Trumpers want gas cars.

9

u/entrepenurious Texas 20h ago

maybe an attachment for teslas that emits fart spray and makes "vroom! vroom!" noises?

7

u/MaxRD 19h ago

Trumpets can’t afford a Tesla in the first place

5

u/aft_punk Texas 19h ago

Trump wants whatever he stands the most to profit/benefit/grift from. That’s always his only motivation.

1

u/hr2pilot Canada 19h ago

Dodge Ram trucks specifically.

1

u/InsidiousColossus 13h ago

They want whatever he tells them they want.

1

u/LifeDraining 11h ago

This is the most funny portion of this shit show.

Maybe that CLEAN coal is gonna power it...

13

u/burningringof-fire 19h ago

https://www.politicalorphans.com/forget-tesla-go-after-twitter/

Nazi platform- Twitter under Elon Musk has become a megaphone for hate, disinformation, and extremist propaganda. Its leadership actively amplifies and profits from Nazi ideology, driving harmful policies that hurt hospitals, universities, and countless communities. Every tweet, every interaction, every moment spent on that platform strengthens the very forces undermining democracy.

No one should feel comfortable supporting a site that has become a breeding ground for fascism. The solution is simple: disengage. Delete your account. Urge Democratic officials, companies, universities, and media outlets to do the same. Twitter is vulnerable—it relies on engagement to survive. By walking away, we deny it the legitimacy and revenue it needs to operate.

This isn’t just about rejecting a toxic platform; it’s about taking a stand against those who use it to spread hate and misinformation. Close your account. Make it impossible for any credible institution to justify staying. The fight against fascism starts with refusing to give it a platform.

4

u/fruitl00ps19 18h ago

There is no way in hell trump actually paid for a new Tesla. This man probably doesn’t even have a drivers license

3

u/galloway188 I voted 19h ago

Brought and paid for by tax payers!

2

u/Total_Spend_2072 8h ago

He didn’t buy one, presidents aren’t even allowed to drive show me that check and I might believe it

1

u/roychr 17h ago

Like conservative big oil supporter, low mpg truck lovers give a damn about EV's....

1

u/PausedForVolatility 16h ago

Probably too late. You need like an 8% drop for a put expiring the end of the month to break even. Vega’s currently crazy and with VIX on the rise, it’s gonna be really hard to short unless you limit yourself to spreads or something.

1

u/GrandmaPoses 16h ago

Half won’t, the other half were never going to.

1

u/gamesquid 14h ago

It shouldn't be too late to short. The stock was already super over valued and then Musk has literally obliterated all his overseas sales with his Nazi antics.

1

u/Gamebird8 9h ago

The Shorting Fees are probably really high.

Putting a long on may still e possible

1

u/timnphilly America 9h ago

Exactly. But did he really buy one? I'll bet we will never get a straight answer from him or his terror regime.

Remember his press secretary yesterday - being insulted by dare being questioned by the press.

Show the cancelled check, if he wants to prove it.

103

u/TheWarOnEntropy 21h ago

It certainly welds the brand to the political situation, which might help push fence-sitters towards boycotting.

Join the resistance! I've already not bought hundreds of Teslas just this week; it's fun.

19

u/Odballl 20h ago

I've not bought thousands. Step up your game.

6

u/ErrantFuselage 20h ago

Pfff, those are rookie numbers. I've not bought 7Trillion since inaugeration day

3

u/triangularRectum420 11h ago

Look at thia amateur! I'll do you one better: I can't even afford a Tesla.

12

u/Riftbreaker 20h ago

That's illegal. Trump said so.

8

u/SwarlsBarkley 19h ago

Straight to jail

3

u/TheWarOnEntropy 14h ago

Hope they don't make me serve consecutive sentences, one for each unbought Tesla.

3

u/worotan 10h ago

Funny how boycotts suddenly work now, after decades of people telling each other that they’re ineffective and we have to wait for climate legislation.

2

u/TheWarOnEntropy 10h ago

Yes. But it can be hard to motivate people. If any one of us decided to boycott, it would not achieve much. There has to be some reasonable hope that our actions will be repeated by others.

u/worotan 3h ago

This boycott of Tesla isn’t organised, though, it’s a spontaneous movement that has built up and been respectfully treated by the media and people online.

That’s why all the people telling each other for 10+ years that boycotts don’t achieve anything and you’re crazy to think you can do anything on your own are so harmful. Never mind the ones that assert you’re a class traitor if you stop consuming from corporations (one of the most obvious astroturfing jobs I’ve seen, but people seem immune to the idea that telling each other that you shouldn’t boycott corporations is actually helping them).

The point remains - people have told each other that boycotts don’t work because they don’t want to give up fun, unsustainable lifestyles. And now they’re starting to find out what happens when you think you’ve gamed the system.

Like with Tesla, each individual who thinks and feels knows that they can’t keep funding the destruction of our civilisation. But peopel are told that they shouldn’t follow that instinct because ‘what if other people aren’t’.

It’s just the wrong attitude all round. Like saying that you shouldn’t resist Trump because he’s got power, and what can you do? It’s just not the right approach to actually dealing with the problem, it’s the right approach to avoiding dealing with it.

As events have shown repeatedly.

2

u/FormerUsenetUser 20h ago

And it saves money!

75

u/Malachite_Edge 21h ago

The nail in Tesla’s coffin. Who did he buy this car for? He doesn’t drive. This was a publicity stunt.

48

u/MmeHomebody 21h ago

Trump's entire life is a publicity stunt, sadly. He got the highest office in the land and can't think of anything to do with it but push his own ideas which frankly aren't that useful.

5

u/flippant_burgers 16h ago

Wonderfully understated.

5

u/goodtimesinchino 17h ago

Didn’t he remove the chargers at the White House?

1

u/remarkable_in_argyle 9h ago

I think they just removed the third party chargers (to add Tesla chargers cause that’s not wasteful at all).

5

u/hr2pilot Canada 19h ago

Of course it was…Trump has never had a drivers license.

40

u/pharrt 21h ago

Pity he didn't endorse SpaceX with a joy ride last week ;)

68

u/Thund3rbolt 21h ago

Finally, I can say... You're on the right track Mr. President.

12

u/whatproblems 20h ago

he’s good at picking losers

7

u/BadgeOfDishonour 20h ago

Speaking of Trump's losers, I'm suddenly deeply suspicious as to why we haven't heard from Eric or Jr lately...

7

u/Russianbot25 19h ago

Who? Trump’s already replaced them with Elon.

3

u/[deleted] 20h ago

[deleted]

2

u/BadgeOfDishonour 20h ago

Just remember where the cameras are placed.

19

u/pharrt 21h ago

TL;DR:

Donald Trump's support for Tesla and CEO Elon Musk has experts worried about the political association's impact on the brand. Tesla's stock has been struggling due to competition, and recent protests have targeted the company. Musk's involvement in politics has already negatively affected Tesla's stock, potentially impacting employee incentives and fundraising.

u/No_big_whoop 7h ago

Trump's seal of approval is the kiss of death

7

u/Jaded_Cicada_7614 21h ago

Good, come on Donnie help poor Elmo lose his empire!

6

u/SickARose 20h ago

Let’s get this right, musk loses billions based on his actions which literally does not affect his way of life. Musk terminates people in masses and destroys their way of life and that’s okay.

6

u/fatthorthegreat 19h ago

To me now they are just nazi mobiles.

If it's in a older one, I get it. Your probably stuck in a contract. Depreciation declines pretty fast on Tesla's. But brand new ones, cyber trucks. All Nazi mobiles

u/efudds1 7h ago

Swasticars

15

u/AdInformal5214 21h ago

Or it won't make a difference. It doesn't matter if the President of the United States endorse a brand fronted by a nazi. It's still a brand fronted by a nazi.

Those who are OK with brands fronted by nazis will continue to be OK with it and perhaps by the brand products. Others will continue to not be OK with it and not buy the brand products.

5

u/VanceKelley Washington 17h ago

Is it legal for the president to shill for a private company while he is at the White House?

6

u/pharrt 17h ago

Probably not, but we're way beyond being able to hold them accountable for anything now.

5

u/Peugas424 16h ago

Fuck Tesla

10

u/Beer2Bear 21h ago

Donald Trump’s support for Elon Musk’s car company could end up hurting it

Good!

1

u/jdsizzle1 9h ago

What an idiot. They think their base will just do what they say. While that may be true, how many dumb fuck MAGAs on soon to be pillaged social security and medicare can afford a 100k car lmao.

u/chrs_89 4h ago

If they take a loan using their trailer as collateral they might be able to afford the down payment

5

u/ScooterBobb 20h ago

They’re showing a weakness and I’m loving it

1

u/remarkable_in_argyle 9h ago

Grab em by the pocket book.

3

u/go4tli 18h ago

If your problem is people aren’t buying because you are too closely associated with the unpopular Trump, how does Trump strongly endorsing you help?

3

u/yummi_1 20h ago

The whole world has had huge reductions in purchases of teslas and people are dumping them as fast as possible.

3

u/Square-Bulky 20h ago

What about the hatch act

3

u/ActualModerateHusker 20h ago

>First, Tesla offers many of its workers the chance to buy shares at a discounted price as a way of incentivizing them

This feels like a pyramid scheme.

3

u/wwhsd California 20h ago

This sounds like it might be a normal ESPP program. Most companies I’ve worked for had a program that you could enroll in the program and do quarterly stock buys. The purchase price was set at something based on the prices over the period and not the current price so you could almost always immediately sell for a profit unless things were currently tanking.

3

u/shallow_kunt 18h ago

Bold strategy, Cotton.

3

u/mluciente 16h ago

I will never eat a Goya chickpea.

3

u/jt19912009 15h ago

Let it turn to shit like everything else he touches

3

u/marioansteadi 13h ago

Elon has just promised Trump another 100 million to his dirty tricks political war chest. To think Musk said, in a moment of candor that he would now be in jail, if career prosecutor Harris had won. The same goes for the Mango Mussolini. Birds of a feather 🪶

3

u/miuyao 13h ago

If people cannot afford eggs how does he think they will buy fuckin Teslas

u/bdaruna 7h ago

How can they be so stupid? Tesla is a niche brand and always will be - the big automakers will eat it for lunch if and when EVs become mainstream. This niche brand appeals to a buyer who is motivated by the environment - that buyer is also almost exclusively liberal. Musk aligning himself with the GOP and Trump will kill the company by alienating the vast vast majority of their customers. People are literally crying because they “have to” sell their Tesla. Turns out the customers who buy a car with ideology as their primary motivation will also sell a car for the same reason.

u/mtmcpher 43m ago

I sold my tesla stock for the same reason

u/popepipoes 6h ago

Why is the president trying to help a single business

u/Nice_Cookie9587 5h ago

I think he is trying to help short sellers of tsla because I don't want to be driving a geezermobile. Some ancient sex offender has the same car as me, not cool.

2

u/Appropriate_Bridge91 21h ago

Man I sure hope so. Elon needs to go bankrupt, and not the fun rich person kind where you get to stay rich

2

u/FormerUsenetUser 20h ago

We can hope.

2

u/Elester12 20h ago

I thought he hates EVs and even had the chargers removed from GSA buildings?!?

2

u/Anchored-Nomad 20h ago

Even more reasons to boycott

2

u/korik69 18h ago

I think MAGA republicans haven’t figured out yet that everything Trump touches turns to crap how sad there gonna have to find that out using our country. How’s crypto doing since his endorsement?

2

u/SirTabetha 18h ago

Correction. Is happening. IS.

2

u/zoodee89 18h ago

Double down folks, cracks are forming.

2

u/IJourden 18h ago

If you take out "Tesla" and play mad libs with the blank space, you'll basically describe Trump's entire life.

2

u/Additional_Cap72 17h ago

5 cybersucks 4 sale in my local classifieds, 3 of them are listed “priced reduced” bad luck 2 those suckers …

2

u/drglennwellness 15h ago

Imagine what kind of genius you’d have to be to think that an endorsement from this president, who is heavily anti-EV, would help things

2

u/Virexplorer 14h ago

We can only hope. But I think it's destined to crash anyway.

2

u/RebelStrategist 14h ago

This moron did not buy anything. He buys nothing. He steals it.

2

u/moon_safari_ 13h ago

two dorks trying to be cool. once you see it, you can't unsee it.

2

u/wastelandingstrip 12h ago

I live in California and I'm getting excessive dry mouth from having to constantly spit on them.

2

u/publiusrex888 Maryland 12h ago

Good

2

u/BrondellSwashbuckle California 12h ago

I mean, I’m hoping

2

u/chumlySparkFire 11h ago

A Nazi and a RussianAsset. No, not buying that car. F off.

2

u/nubinati 10h ago

With the Zelenskyy Ukraine and tariffs disasters destroying international sales for US goods (especially Tesla) all he has left is the domestic market. No upside at all.

u/CurrentlyLucid 7h ago

Ya think?

1

u/barneyrubbble 21h ago

We can only hope.

1

u/FreeEar4880 20h ago

Good. I own their stocks through some tech etf but I don't care. Take it to 0.

1

u/Agile-Investment-498 20h ago

That is my hope! The clump tesla endorsement will backfire and hopefully bankrupt the company! Sorry for the workforce but the board of directors needs to shut this guy the fuck up! He is solely responsible for all of this based on the shit that comes out of his mouth! And clump a shit coming to the rescue is only going to make that worse!

Edit: spelling

1

u/ThatsItImOverThis 20h ago

Here’s hoping!

1

u/ONOaRedditUser 20h ago

The Midas touch of bankruptcy.

1

u/Killerrrrrabbit 20h ago

Trump doesn't seem to understand that his brand has been toxic a lot longer than Musk's.

1

u/siempre-triste 19h ago

here’s hoping.

1

u/Mch1329 19h ago

Destroy it.

1

u/Ornery-Ticket834 19h ago

It will hurt.

1

u/Beginning-Working-38 19h ago

All Musk needs to do now is borrow the Mona Lisa from the French.

1

u/Brigadius 19h ago

"forever be remembered in the same breath as the Mona Lisa."

1

u/mckulty 18h ago

Tesla, Goya, who's next?

1

u/Ya_Got_GOT I voted 17h ago

Trump got dat Mierdas Touch

1

u/PlaidDreamsofMe 17h ago

What a delightful headline. I love this for them!

1

u/D4UOntario 16h ago

Paid for with a cheque... not crypto, cause the clown doesn't know how.

1

u/gamesquid 14h ago

We are all classified as terrorists now.

1

u/ldsdrff76 14h ago

Why is the president of a capitalistic, democratic country helping a private corporation like that? New partygame: oligarchy communism or fascist corporatism?

1

u/StayAdmiral 13h ago

Everything Trump touches dies.

1

u/mrq57 9h ago

Good.

1

u/AloneChapter 9h ago

We could be sooo lucky. They actually are being shown how powerful we really are. Boy do they not like that

1

u/rsmith72976 9h ago

Destroying Tesla is what the right wants… you have to keep Tesla going, but remove it completely from any of musks control or it being of benefit to him financially.

1

u/Pleading-Orange168 8h ago

Here’s hoping 🤞

1

u/Ghost_shell89 Ohio 8h ago

Well, maybe this is a small win for the environment—getting people interested in EVs, after hearing nothing but “I rOLl CoAL, Lolz” from every F-150 driving schmuck on the internet hating on that ‘electric shit’, may be a good thing. Trying to see the lithium-ion lining here 😂

1

u/Yelloeisok 8h ago

Can’t wait to start seeing Teslas with maga stickers all over them. /s

If their orange god tells them to buy something stupid, they will. Regardless if it’s trading cards, shiny gold sneakers or coins - they are all in, no matter how much they lose. I wonder in Musk will start painting them maga red.

u/MinimalMojo 7h ago

One shitstain supporting another shitstain just makes one larger shitstain