Trump talks up Tesla in White House show of support for Musk

Unhappy Tesla owners have even slapped bumper stickers on their vehicles saying they purchased them “before Elon went crazy.”

Trump warned of a crackdown on protesters.

Asked by a reporter if protesters should be “labeled domestic terrorists,” Trump said “I’ll do it.”

“You do it to Tesla and you do it to any company, we’re going to catch you and you’re going to go through hell,” he said.

Musk said that thanks to Trump’s “great policies” and “as an act of faith in America” that Tesla would double vehicle output in the United States within two years.

Musk also said that production would start in Texas next year of a self-driving “cyber-cab” vehicle that will not have a steering wheel or pedals. “It’ll either self drive or not drive at all, but it’ll self drive,” he commented.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform earlier that he would buy a Tesla “as a show of confidence and support” for Musk.

“To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!,” Trump wrote.

He called the South African-born Musk “a truly great American”.

Musk, the world’s richest person, responded on his X platform, thanking the president.

While Musk enjoys Trump’s confidence, polling shows the multi-billionaire is deeply unpopular among ordinary Americans, and his government cuts have sparked angry confrontations between Republicans and their constituents.

– Tesla shares recover –

Tesla has lost more than one-third of its market value since mid-December as Musk deepens his association with Trump.

But the automaker’s share prices rallied Tuesday after closing more than 15 percent down on Monday, amid uncertainty over Trump’s import tariffs and threats.

Tesla has also seen sales drop across Europe following Musk’s controversial support for far-right groups, including the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party during Germany’s recent election campaign.

Tesla sales in Germany — Europe’s biggest auto market — plunged more than 76 percent year-on-year in February, official data showed. Overall sales across the European Union almost halved, year-on, in January.

In early March, a dozen Teslas were torched at a dealership in France in what authorities treated as an arson attack. The firm’s facilities have also been vandalized in the United States. Musk said his X platform was hit Monday by a major cyberattack.

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© Agence France-Presse