President Donald Trump is getting rid of the Tesla he bought in March in a show of solidarity with Elon Musk.
The president had agreed to let the Tesla chief hold a demo on the South Lawn after protesters angry about DOGE cuts vandalized dealerships across the country.
Now that the two have had a major falling out over the president’s “big beautiful” budget bill, the red Tesla Model S with Florida plates parked on West Executive Drive will either be given away or sold, according to Fox News reporter Peter Doocy.
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The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
During the March 11 event, Trump had said he hoped his $80,000 purchase would boost Tesla’s sales and stock prices, which were struggling amid outrage over Musk’s efforts to gut the federal government.
“Wow, that’s beautiful,” Trump said as he climbed in. “This is a different panel than I ever—everything’s computer!”
The president was also photographed holding a note card listing the Model S pricing information—including monthly financing details—bolstering the case of critics who blasted the display as a “Tesla ad” and a conflict of interest for Musk.
The Trump administration also accused Tesla vandals of being “terrorists” and charged them with felony counts carrying lengthy prison sentences.
“I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20-year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla,” Trump wrote in a March 21 post on Truth Social. “Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!”
The attacks continued, however, and Tesla sales have been decimated in markets around the world—including a staggering 40 percent drop in Europe.
In the meantime, Musk had been “wearing thin” on Trump for about a month before their feud exploded this week, Fox’s Doocy reported, echoing a blistering Truth Social post from the president in which Trump also accused Musk of going “CRAZY.”
Just days after Musk’s tenure as the head of the so-called “department” government efficiency came to an end, the world’s richest man—who poured nearly $300 million into Trump’s re-election effort—began trashing the president’s signature legislation on Tuesday.
Among other attacks, Musk wrote on social media that “next year, we fire all politicians” who voted for the bill, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over a decade.
White House officials, however, have accused Musk of being upset that the bill is cutting electric vehicle tax credits, which have benefited Telsa for years.
On Thursday, Musk and Trump began trading increasingly personal insults, including Trump threatening to cancel Musk’s federal contracts and Musk accusing Trump of appearing in FBI files related to Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
According to Doocy, the tension had been building for a while.
“This was not a sudden exit and then blow up,” he said of Musk’s departure from the White House.
Aides on both sides had reportedly tried to organize a call to try to smooth things over, but a senior White House official told the Daily Beast the president didn’t plan to speak to Musk on Friday.
Trump also told CNN that he’s “not even thinking about” Musk and won’t be speaking to him “for a while.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
