Trump to ‘sell or give away’ Tesla he bought from Elon Musk during White House event amid bitter feud

WASHINGTON, DC: Once a vocal supporter of Tesla and its mission, President Donald Trump is now walking away from the brand and his own bright red Tesla Model S following a very public and personal clash with Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

On June 6, a White House official confirmed that Trump is preparing to offload the $80,000 electric vehicle, which he purchased earlier this year in a gesture of solidarity with the company, reports Mediate.

Tesla no longer has Donald Trump’s stamp of approval

Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy said, “We’re told that that Tesla, the red Tesla with Florida tags, is either going to be given away or sold off.”

The car, which remains parked in the White House lot, was originally acquired in March after a wave of vandalism targeted Tesla dealerships, a move Trump had condemned.

But that show of support has now soured, just hours after Musk launched a blistering critique of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”, calling it a “disgusting abomination.”

Musk previously served as head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) but was dismissed quietly last month.

Sources say Musk’s frustration stemmed partly from provisions in Trump’s bill related to electric vehicle subsidies provisions that, ironically, would have benefited Tesla but the feud escalated quickly and took an even darker turn when Musk accused Trump of appearing in classified files connected to Jeffrey Epstein, a claim the White House has firmly denied.

A White House official said that Trump had no intention of reaching out to Elon Musk or initiating any contact with him.

The public dispute has had a ripple effect in the markets. Tesla stock dropped 14% following Musk’s remarks and his exit from the administration, though it began recovering slightly with a 5% uptick the following morning, trading at $300 on NASDAQ as of 10:50 a.m.

Donald Trump blames Elon Musk's outburst on ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ amid fallout

President Donald Trump dismissed Elon Musk’s recent online tirade as a symptom of what he called “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Speaking from the Oval Office on June 6 during a joint press appearance with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump downplayed the Tesla CEO’s fiery criticism of his administration’s legislation and subsidy decisions.

“He’s not the first,” Trump said. “People leave my administration, and they love us, and then at some point they miss it so badly. Some of them embrace it, and some of them actually become hostile. I don’t know what it is. It’s sort of ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome,’ I guess they call it.”

“They leave, and they wake up in the morning, and the glamour is gone. The whole world is different, and they become hostile,” he added.

The president also opened up about a private disagreement with Elon Musk, sharing that Musk had lobbied for a personal friend to be named NASA administrator.

“Elon is upset because we took the EV mandate, which was a lot of money for electric vehicles, and they're having a hard time,” Trump said. “The electric vehicles. And they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidy. And, you know, Elon knew this from the beginning. He knew it for a long time ago.”

“I know that disturbed him. He wanted, rightfully, he recommended somebody from that he, I guess, knew very well. I'm sure he respected him, but to run NASA, and I didn't think was appropriate. And he happened to be a Democrat, like totally Democrat. And I say, you know, we won. We get certain privileges, and one of the privileges we don't have to appoint a Democrat. NASA is very important. We have great people,” he added.