Just under three months ago, Donald Trump stood beside Elon Musk outside the White House, selecting a new red Tesla Model S in a public show of support. Now, amid a deepening feud with the Tesla CEO, Trump may be preparing to part ways with the electric vehicle.
A senior White House official confirmed to Business Insider that Trump is weighing whether to sell or give away the Model S, which carries a sticker price around $80,000. The Wall Street Journal first broke the news.
Trump had chosen the car from a display of Teslas during a March event that resembled a sales pitch, with Musk present on the South Lawn. The moment signaled a then-warm alliance, as Tesla’s stock struggled and Musk faced backlash over deep government workforce cuts at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
At the time, Trump praised the vehicle as “a great product, as good as it gets,” and called Musk someone who had “devoted his energy and his life to doing this,” adding that the billionaire had been treated “very unfairly by a very small group of people.”
Since then, their relationship has soured significantly.
The clash exploded publicly on Thursday after Musk slammed Trump’s signature budget bill on social media, calling it “disgusting.” Trump fired back on Truth Social, branding Musk “crazy” and proposing the cancellation of billions in government contracts and subsidies awarded to his companies.
Tesla shares took a beating in the fallout, plunging 14% on Thursday and erasing $138 billion from the company's market cap. The stock rebounded nearly 5% Friday morning but remains down roughly 20% on the year.
If Trump does go through with offloading the Model S, timing may be crucial. A recent analysis from used car site iSeeCars found that pre-owned Model S vehicles have seen the steepest price drop of any car model over the past year, as resale values for Teslas continue to decline.
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