President Trump Could Sell His Tesla Model S Amid Elon Musk Feud

Car and Driver

a day ago

In the midst of his feud with Elon Musk, President Donald Trump may sell his recently purchased Tesla Model S.
U.S. presidents aren't actually allowed to drive, so the red Model S here is symbolic.
Tesla's stock price is suffering due to the very public feud, and the storm isn't over yet.
Where once the powerful feuded publicly in newspaper columns, social media has now enabled all sorts of angry outbursts to go very public, very quickly. Thus, the falling out between President Donald Trump and one-time ally Elon Musk involved a heated exchange that everyone with an internet connection was invited to. The rift has yet to heal, and now a White House official is indicating that President Trump might be selling off his red Tesla Model S.
Ownership of this car is largely symbolic, as U.S. presidents and vice presidents are not actually allowed to drive on the public road (there have been some exceptions, notably Lyndon B. Johnson's love of speeding around Texas). However, the contrast between the livestreamed event in March, where Tesla models were lined up on the White House lawn, and the President selling off the Model S he bought at the time, shows how icy the relationship between the two powerful figures has become.
getty images
This feud is not really a surprise to anyone familiar with the behavior of either of the combatants in the past. The spark that lit the fuse was Musk posting on his social media network, X, that the upcoming public spending bill recently passed by the House was financially irresponsible. President Trump responded, expressing that he was disappointed in Musk's comments.
Financially, the public squabble has been disastrous for Tesla's stock price, which tumbled 14 percent yesterday before slightly recovering today. SpaceX also relies heavily on government contracts, and one of Trump's threats on Thursday was to pull the funding for those contracts, which could also put that company in danger.
Online, there's been plenty of both schadenfreude and chagrin, depending on where people fall on the political spectrum. Should the feud continue or worsen, there's the potential for plenty of damage to both men. Trump selling off his Tesla publicly might not quite be a canary-in-the-coal-mine moment, but it is another escalation.
Certainly, neither figure here is short on ego, and neither is a stranger to airing their grievances. The fighting isn't over, and the arena couldn't be more public.
Brendan McAleer
Contributing Editor
Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.