Trump may get rid of his Tesla after row with erstwhile ally Musk

WASHINGTON – Mr Donald Trump may now offload a Tesla he said he bought earlier in 2025 in a show of support for Mr Elon Musk, a White House official said on June 6, following

a blazing row

between the US president and his billionaire former adviser.

The red electric vehicle, which retails for around US$80,000 (S$103,000), was still in a parking lot on the White House grounds, a reporter said, a day after the very public meltdown between Mr Trump and Mr Musk.

“He’s thinking about it, yes,” a senior White House official said when asked if Mr Trump would sell or give away the Tesla.

Tesla stocks tanked more than 14 per cent on June 5 amid the row, losing some US$100 billion of the company’s market value, but leapt back in early trading on June 6.

Mr Trump, who does not drive as a president, said he was buying the Tesla in March to boost support for his mega-donor, whose brand – and bottom line – has been hit hard by public outrage over his role in slashing US government jobs.

At a

choreographed publicity stunt

that turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla showroom, Mr Trump praised the EV as a “great product” and lashed out on social media at “Radical Left” attacks against the world’s richest person and his company.

Mr Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and another senior aide posed in the car as recently as last week, in a photograph posted on Mr Musk’s social media network X.

“Taking President Trump’s Tesla out for a ride,” Mr Trump’s communications adviser Margo Martin posted.

But the shiny red vehicle has now become an awkward symbol of the fiery political divorce between Mr Trump, 78, and former Department of Government Efficiency chief Musk, 53.

Mr Trump said he was “very disappointed” by Mr Musk and threatened to end his government contracts after his ex-aide criticised the president’s flagship budget and policy mega-Bill as an “abomination”. AFP