Donald Trump has confirmed that he will buy a new Tesla electric vehicle after praising Elon Musk as being one of the "world's great automakers".
President Trump's first 50 days back in the White House have been dominated by tariffs and strong attacks against his critics, as well as his partnership with Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk.
Despite cutting funding for electric vehicle infrastructure and threatening to impose tariffs on automakers around the world, Trump has announced a massive U-turn set to take place today.
Addressing his 9.2 million followers on Truth Social, the President thanked Elon Musk for his efforts with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
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President Donald Trump has confirmed he will purchase a new Tesla EV
REUTERS
He wrote: "To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is 'putting it on the line' in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!
"But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott 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."
He added that "they" tried to keep Donald Trump out of the White House in the 2024 Presidential election, and questioned: "How did that work out?"
The 47th President continued: "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.
President Donald Trump has been seen in a Tesla Cybertruck before
TESLA"Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN???"
It is unclear which Tesla model Trump will purchase, although he could choose the large steel-clad Cybertruck.
In the hours since Trump's social media post, Elon Musk has been reposting supportive comments of Tesla on X, formerly known as Twitter.
He thanked Fox News host Sean Hannity for announcing his intention to buy a Tesla Model S Plaid, as well as reposting the official Cybertruck X account.
A wave of anti-Tesla protests took place over the weekend
REUTERS
The 53-year-old also reposted a video from August 2024 of Donald Trump in a Cybertruck. He appeared impressed with the sound quality of the speakers as he listened to California Dreamin' by The Mamas and the Papas.
The video shows him asking "how good is that?" and calling Elon Musk "unbelievable" for designing a vehicle that impressed him so much.
It comes at a time when Tesla stock is plummeting amid criticism of Elon Musk and his affiliation with right-wing figures like Nigel Farage and the Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party in Germany.
Reuters reported that Tesla's market capitalisation has more than halved since hitting an all-time high of $1.5trillion (£1.16trillion) on December 17.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Littleton Fire Department indicated that the Tesla Supercharger fires could have been a deliberate attack LITTLETON FIRE DEPARTMENTMusk also described the recent protests and criticism of him as "crazy", with many storming Tesla dealerships and calling for a boycott of the electric vehicle brand.
There have also been a spate of attacks against Tesla dealerships, as seen in France and the US state of Washington, as well as a huge blaze at a Supercharger site in Massachusetts.
