Donald Trump tried to help his co-President Elon Musk stem the bleeding at his flailing car company on Tuesday by holding an infomercial in front of the White House and claiming he was buying one of Musk's overpriced, unsafe, and increasingly unpopular electric cars.
"It's a great product, as good as it gets," Trump said, holding a literal list of talking points about the cars as Musk and one of Musk's many children stood alongside him. "This man has devoted his energy and his life to doing this and I think he's been treated very unfairly by a very small group of people."
Trump, who said he's not going to use the car he buys because he hasn't "driven a car in a long time," got into the vehicles and proved that he's an out-of-touch 78-year-old geezer when he declared, "Everything's computer!"
Trump also threatened anyone who protests at Tesla dealerships, which is an increasingly popular pastime, saying he will label them domestic terrorists.
“Law enforcement is out there watching everybody. We don’t want this to happen,” Trump said.
Trump’s boosting of his buddy’s struggling car company started in the early hours of Tuesday with another infomercial on his Truth Social platform in which he encouraged Republicans to buy Teslas to help Musk out.
"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," Trump wrote at 12:14 AM ET. "They tried to do it to me at the 2024 Presidential Ballot Box, but how did that work out? 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. Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN???"
Tesla's stock price has fallen nearly 30% over the past month, as Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency have been the public face of the Trump administration's chaotic, destructive, and dangerous cuts to the federal government and federal workforce.
Musk's approval rating is in the toilet, with 53% of voters viewing him unfavorably, according to a Civiqs tracking poll. And his approval has a lot farther to fall.
During a Monday night interview on Fox news, the multibillionaire said that he is coming for Social Security and Medicare—two of the most popular government programs that help older Americans afford health care and retirement.
In that same interview, Musk complained about the difficulties his business empire is facing since he joined the Trump administration.
"How are you running your other businesses?" Trump stooge Larry Kudlow asked Musk.
"With great difficulty," replied a seemingly teary Musk. "I'm just here trying to make government more efficient, eliminate waste and fraud, and so far we're making good progress," he whined.
In an effort to comfort his friend, Trump said he is writing an $80,000 check for a red Model S sedan, which he will leave at the White House for staff members to drive. And this isn’t the president’s first Tesla purchase.
Trump said he also purchased a Tesla Cybertruck, which starts at $80,000 but can go much higher, for his granddaughter Kai about a year ago. According to a list of talking points Trump held about the cars on display, the Cybertruck displayed at the White House cost a whopping $114,000.
Even Fox News reporters were aghast at Trump’s efforts to help Musk’s company, with trusty Trump sycophant Peter Doocy asking how Americans—who are watching their retirement portfolios crater as Trump policies help tank the stock market—will feel seeing Trump shell out tens of thousands of dollars for a new car that he won’t even drive.
“You're buying a new car. There are some folks who will see this clip at home and they are struggling with their retirement accounts down at the moment,” Doocy said to Trump.
The president’s reply was predictably dismissive and nonsensical.
“Well I think they're gonna go great,” Trump said. “Our country had to do this.”
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DOOCY: You're buying a new car. There are some folks who will see this clip at home and they are struggling with their retirement accounts down at the moment.
TRUMP: Well I think they're gonna go great. Our country had to do this.
[image or embed]
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 11, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Ultimately, Trump's car commercial at the White House is just the latest instance in which he's defiling the office of the presidency, trying to help line the pockets of the richest man in the world, who also happens to be his largest political benefactor—all while on taxpayer-owned property.
Donald Trump talks to reporters as he sits in a garbage truck on Oct. 30, 2024, in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Tuesday’s cringey display isn’t nearly the goofiest stunt Trump has pulled during his political career.
Who can forget the time he rode in a garbage truck during the 2024 campaign, nearly falling over as he tried to enter the vehicle?
He pretended to work at a McDonald’s to prove that, despite growing up with a silver spoon in his mouth, he fashions himself as a man of the people.
There was also the time during his first term in the White House when he sat in the cab of a big rig and honked the horn, just like a big boy.
President Donald Trump pretends to drive an 18-wheeler as he meets with truckers and industry CEOs on March 23, 2017, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington.
It’s unclear if Trump’s latest Tesla stunt will actually help poor little rich boy Musk stop his company from crumbling.
Tesla’s customer base consists of educated, high-income individuals who live in blue states like California and in the Northeast—where Trump and Musk are not popular. So Trump hawking the vehicles could ultimately do more harm than good for Musk and his company.
But that’s beside the point.
Trump used the White House to try to help his top crony benefit financially. That is a sick perversion of the presidency that should disturb people of all political stripes.
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