Elon Musk may be losing billions of dollars every day due to his association with Donald Trump, but the tech tycoon is out there squeezing the sitting president for every last penny he’s spent on his campaign in 2024. I mean, what better way to spend the American taxpayer money and the 47th’s time than holding a showcase for Tesla cars on the White House lawn, as if the country’s administrative seat is the billionaire’s own personal sound stage?
The dynamic between Trump and Musk is something that baffles even some hardcore MAGA influencers. As if profiting from billions of dollars in government contracts for his various companies wasn’t enough, Musk is now heading the newly instated Department of Government Efficiency for Trump, the main culprit in the mass layoff of thousands of federal workers, and the reason why the administrative branch has been in a state of utter disarray for the past month. And yet, we’re not sure who advises whom in this self-congratulatory echo chamber they’ve got going on in the White House.
When Musk isn’t disrupting the workflow of the entire government, you can find him doomscrolling on X, the social media platform he owns, and spending countless hours replying to tweets, drafting toxic, rage-fueled rhetoric against minorities, and even occasionally siding with far-right neo-fascist figures in Europe. All of this, further encumbered by Trump’s harmful economic policies, has turned Tesla, Musk’s most profitable brand, into a sinking ship. Tesla sales are down all around the world, and the company’s shares were recently hit with another 15% drop. There are even anti-Tesla protests on the streets, which has enraged Elon, and in turn Trump, so much that the latter is calling it “domestic terrorism.”
I call this dynamic strange because I can’t quite believe Trump, a man with an ego that could stretch to the moon and back, has been reduced to a sales hustler for Elon. After writing on social media that he’d be willing to buy a Tesla to support his friend, Trump and Musk held a joint press presentation in the South Lawn of the White House. Five vehicles from Tesla’s line-up, including the Cybertruck, were arrayed for Trump’s inspection, which he did with due diligence. He even admired the craftsmanship by throwing out generic ad-libs like: “Wow. That’s beautiful.”
President @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk hop in a Tesla! pic.twitter.com/NRRm7IEQGf
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) March 11, 2025
Trump plans to buy the Tesla S model, which goes for $73,490 on the company’s official website, but considering he can’t drive nor just hop into any car to go around due to security reasons, I wonder what he’ll do with it when it arrives. Besides, one would assume Musk would just give one to Trump out of courtesy, though I realize that defeats the whole purpose of this federal advert.
When you think about it, the transaction actually constitutes the perfect metaphor for unhinged capitalism, the altar the Trump and Musk types of this world worship at and the hill they’d be willing to die on if only to preserve their wealth and influence, and any allusions to dignity be damned.
Published: Mar 12, 2025 12:48 pm