by Peter Vercoe and Derek Wallbank
US President Donald Trump said he’ll buy a “brand new” Tesla to support Elon Musk, after shares of the electric-car maker had their worst day in four years amid a growing backlash over Musk’s political allegiances.
In a post just after midnight in Washington, Trump said he will buy a 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???” Trump didn’t specify which Tesla model he would buy.
Musk, who spent tens of millions of dollars to help elect Trump and is now the face of the president’s efforts to cut the size of the US government, responded with a simple “Thank you.”
Thank you, President @realDonaldTrump! pic.twitter.com/3kqZObTixi
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2025
Tesla shares tumbled 15% on Monday after analysts including UBS Group AG’s Joseph Spak cut delivery projections. Musk has seen his net worth fall by more than $130 billion since January, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
In addition to disruptions related to changing over its most important model to a new design, blowback against Musk, who is Tesla’s chief executive officer, is hurting the automaker’s standing in some of the world’s biggest EV markets. In Germany, for instance, registrations plummeted 70% during the first two months of the year as Musk endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany in the months leading up to the Feb. 23 election.
In China — the world’s biggest EV market — Tesla is among the manufacturers struggling to keep up with domestic champion BYD Co. Vehicle shipments from the Musk-led company’s plant in Shanghai plunged 49% in February to just 30,688 vehicles, the lowest monthly figure since July 2022.
Monday’s drop in Tesla shares was the biggest single-day decline since September 2020. The stock is down 45% in 2025 and has lost all of its gains since Trump won the US presidential election in November.
Musk was asked earlier Monday how he was running his other businesses while focusing on DOGE, in an interview with former Trump adviser Larry Kudlow on Fox Business. The world’s richest man responded: “with great difficulty.”
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