President Trump organized an exclusive car show in the White House on Tuesday afternoon.
The only represented company: Tesla. The only goal: to help Elon Musk.
Confronted with Tesla with a recoil about Mr. Musk's role in the Trump government, the president said he wanted to buy one of the company's electric vehicles. But Mr. Trump, always a seller, didn't just want to buy a car. He wanted to help Hawiken and his friend, who happens to be the Chief Executive of Tesla.
The 30-minute Confab was partly news conference, partly auto-commercial when Mr. Trump oscillated between answering questions-over the stock market, Canadian rates and the war in Ukraine and five different Tesla cars.
“The one I like is that,” said Mr. Trump, pointing to a bright red model, which costs around $ 80,000. “And I want the same color.” (Mr. Musk, who stood next to the president, tried to sell him on a cyber truck and said, “This is bulletproof.”)
It was an extraordinary scene of a president who used the background of the White House to stimulate sale for a friend and top donor. And it came as Mr. Musk in recent days has noticed Trump advisers that he wants to put $ 100 million in groups that are controlled by the political operation of Trump, according to people with knowledge of the case.
The event was made all the more surreal because Mr Trump has hit electric vehicles for years. On Christmas Day in 2023 he posted on social media that electric cars 'should rot in hell'.
He said that the cars cost too much and cannot drive far enough without having to be charged. But the second point should not be a problem now for Mr. Trump, who said on Tuesday that the secret service would not allow him to drive the car.
“I haven't driven a car for a long time and I love driving cars,” he told reporters. “But I'm going to have it in the White House and I'm going to let my employees use it.”
Mr. Trump said he would pay with a check and that he did not want a discount.
Most presidents avoid promoting or endorse products, because employees of executive branches are forbidden to do this on behalf of friends and relatives. In Mr Trump's first term, one of his advisers, Kellyanne Conway, was reprimanded because they violated those rules when she encouraged people to buy Ivanka Trump's fashion products.
But those rules do not apply to the president. Tesla shares rose somewhat on Tuesday, although they have generally fallen since December.
“President Trump took the personal decision to buy a Tesla, against a market rate,” said Harrison Fields, a spokesperson for the White House, in a statement.
Mr. Trump said he just wanted to help Mr. Musk, who led his campaign to lower the federal workforce.
“I think he was treated very unfairly by a very small group of people,” said Mr. Trump. “And I just want people to know that he cannot be punished because he is a patriot.”
Theodore Schleifer And Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.
