Donald Trump could now offload a Tesla he stated he purchased earlier this yr in a present of assist for Elon Musk, a White House official stated Friday, following a blazing row between the US president and his billionaire former advisor.
The pink electrical car, which retails for round $80,000, was nonetheless in a parking zone on the White House grounds on Friday, an AFP reporter stated, a day after the very public meltdown between Trump and the South African-born tech tycoon.
“He’s thinking about it, yes,” a senior White House official instructed AFP when requested if the Republican would promote or give away the Tesla.
Tesla shares had tanked greater than 14 p.c on Thursday amid the row, dropping some $100 billion of the corporate’s market worth, however leapt again in early buying and selling Friday.
Trump, who doesn’t drive as a president, stated he was shopping for the Tesla in March to spice up assist for his mega-donor, whose model — and backside line — has been hit exhausting by public outrage over his function in slashing US authorities jobs.
At a choreographed publicity stunt that turned the White House right into a pop-up Tesla showroom, Trump praised the EV as a “great product” and lashed out on social media at “Radical Left” assaults towards the world’s richest individual and his firm.
Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and one other senior aide posed within the automobile as not too long ago as final week, in {a photograph} posted on Musk’s social media community X.
“Taking President Trump’s Tesla out for a ride,” Trump’s communications advisor Margo Martin posted.
But the shiny pink car has now turn out to be an ungainly image of the fiery political divorce between Trump, 78, and former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Musk, 53.
Trump stated he was “very disappointed” by Musk and threatened to finish his authorities contracts after his ex-aide criticized the president’s flagship finances and coverage mega-bill as an “abomination.”
Source: www.anews.com.tr