President Donald Trump is thinking of getting rid of the red Tesla that he bought from Elon Musk earlier this year as the feud between the two continues, according to reports.
Trump is considering either selling the Model S electric vehicle, priced at around $80,000, or giving it away, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a senior White House official.
The car was pictured Friday parked outside the West Wing between the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, a picture taken by Reuters news agency showed.
Trump purchased the Tesla in a show of support to the former “first buddy” after the cars were being targeted by vandals following sweeping layoffs Musk was making via the Department of Government Efficiency.
He also said that he had bought a Cybertruck for his granddaughter Kai Trump.
The president turned the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom in March when the friendship was blooming. The president wrote on Truth Social at the time that “the Radical Left Lunatics” were boycotting “Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby,’ in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for.”
“In any event, 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 said. “Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN???”
Tesla took a hit during Musk’s time at the White House and did so again Thursday when he started publicly feuding with Trump on X.
In April’s report, Tesla’s quarterly profits of $40 9million contrasted starkly with last year’s $1.4 billion figure for the same three months – and the 71 percent drop represents the company’s lowest quarterly profits since 2020.
And on Thursday, the argument wiped $138 billion off Tesla’s valuation. Shares recovered Friday, rising nearly 5 percent.
Musk lost $34 billion in net worth when the feud ramped up. Some Tesla stock investors had already begun pulling their investments before the fight after Musk insulted Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and made a swift exit from his “special government employee” position.