Donald Trump says people who 'mess with' Tesla will be put 'through hell' as he turns White House into Tesla showroom
There's plenty of unrest in both Washington and the stock market, with Tesla taking a hit due to the controversial nature of Elon Musk.
The self-appointed 'First Buddy' is firmly by the side of President Donald Trump, and while he remains steadfast in his mission to cut $2 trillion from federal spending, many are asking, at what cost?
We've seen Tesla stocks tumble in recent weeks, while Musk himself lost $29 billion in a single day.
While he's still far and away the richest man in the world, a defeated-looking Musk has defended his role as the head of the DOGE.
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Those close to Musk have rallied behind Tesla, with Maye Musk calling out a recent spate of vandalism against the EV brand. President Trump has also defended 'Elon's baby' and vowed to buy a brand-new Tesla in an attempt to boost the automobile maker's popularity.
Briefly turning the White House into a Tesla showroom, Trump did his best to boost the brand as he appeared outside the iconic building with Musk and his cars firmly by his side. Saying that those damaging Teslas will be treated as 'domestic terrorists', the POTUS went on to refer to Tesla as "a great American company" and promised to put vandals 'through hell'. Posing in front of several Tesla models and a beefy Cybertruck, Trump was seen holding a price list for all the various models.
When asked about whether those targeting Tesla are 'domestic terrorists', Trump continued: "I'll do it. I'm going to stop them… because they're harming a great American company. I've stuck up for a lot of American companies.
"I do favors for all… when you heard an American company, especially a company like this, applies so many jobs that others are unable to do, when you do that, those people are going to go through a big problem when we catch them."
Saying that they've got a lot of cameras up, Trump claims he already knows who some of these people are: "We're going to catch up, and they're bad guys. They're the same guys that screw around with our schools and universities. The same garbage.
“And no, we're going to catch them, and let me tell you, 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."
Trump has also referred to the Tesla boycott as 'illegal', which actually goes against the Supreme Court's 1982 ruling that the First Amendment protects an American's right to protest private businesses.
It seems that Tesla's stocks have had a slight boost in the aftermath of Trump's sales pitch, although Baird analyst Ben Kallo explained the bigger picture to CNBC’s "Squawk on the Street". Kallo said: "When people’s cars are in jeopardy of being keyed or set on fire out there, even people who support Musk or are indifferent Musk might think twice about buying a Tesla."
Tesla shares were up 3.8% on March 11, which should help regain some ground from a historic March 10 drop of 15% - giving TSLA its biggest one-day drop since 2020.
We'll have to wait and see whether this impressive Tesla sales pitch works or things continue going up in (literal) flames for 'Elon's baby'.