Trump to Buy Red Tesla in Show of Support for Musk

The president said he would buy a brand-new Tesla amid the company’s stock market losses and political blowback.

President Donald Trump and White House senior advisor, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sit in a Tesla Model S on the South Lawn of the White House on March 11, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

As Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company faced one of its worst single-day sell-offs, President Donald Trump said he would support his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader by purchasing a brand-new Tesla.

In an early Tuesday morning post on his Truth Social platform, Trump criticized the ongoing Tesla fallout, accusing “Radical Left Lunatics” of “illegally and collusively boycott[ing]” Musk’s company and vowing to buy one of its vehicles.

“I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American,” Trump wrote. “Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN???”

Trump appeared with Musk alongside a row of Tesla vehicles outside the White House on Tuesday. He sat inside and ultimately decided to buy a red Model S but opted against a test drive.

“He didn’t ask me for this. I said: ‘You know, Elon, I don’t like what’s happening to you, and Tesla is a great company. I don’t like what’s happening.’ It’s from our standpoint, American cars, American made,” Trump told reporters.

Musk said Tesla would be doubling its output in the United States within the next two years.

Since he began advising the president last year and throughout his time helming DOGE, blowback from Musk’s political efforts has affected not only the tech businessman but also his electric vehicle company. Tesla boycotts have evolved into protests and vandalism, leading to arrests in multiple states.

Last week, protesters set seven charging stations on fire outside a Boston mall, and a Colorado woman is facing charges for allegedly spray-painting words, including “Nazi,” on vehicles and windows at a Tesla store.

While speaking with reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump acknowledged the protesters and suggested he would consider labeling anyone who carries out violence at Tesla dealerships as “domestic terrorists.”

“Those people are going to go through a big problem when we catch them. We’ve got a lot of cameras up, we already know who some of them are. We’re going to catch them. And they’re bad guys. They’re the same guys that screw around with our schools and universities,” Trump added.

Additionally, Tesla’s shares dropped 45 percent in 2025 and, on March 10, decreased by more than 15 percent to $222.15, the company’s lowest point since October 2024.

After Trump’s announcement on Tuesday, the company’s shares rose by 4.7 percent in premarket trading, following the previous day’s collapse.

During an interview on Monday, Musk dismissed the criticisms targeting his company and his work with DOGE.

“Always look on the bright side of life,” he told Fox Business’s Larry Kudlow. “I think we’re doing the right thing here.”

Recent polls on Musk and DOGE’s popularity have been mixed. In a Feb. 19 Quinnipiac poll, 55 percent of voters said they believe Musk has too much power in making decisions affecting the nation. An Emerson poll from the same day put Musk’s approval rating with his DOGE efforts at 40.5 percent versus 45.1 percent who disapprove.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.