Donald Trump, former president and well-known EV-hater, now supports electric cars and it's all because of Elon Musk, apparently.
While it may seem a bit odd given Trump's previous actions against EV adoption and the abhorrently negative proposed legislation penned by his newly picked vice president candidate, Trump clarified that the reason for his change of heart was because of the strong endorsements he received from Tesla's CEO.
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Trump's EV Flip-Flop
EVs have experienced a huge jump since Trump was elected president in 2016, jumping from 1% of the auto market to an expected 10% in 2024. However, Trump has been a historic naysayer of electric cars. The president has vowed to pump the brakes on government policies promoting the adoption of EVs should be be elected again in November, though he has changed his anti-EV tune in June. Trump now describes himself as a "big fan" of EVs.
Despite calling Musk a "bullshit artist" in 2022, Trump says that Musk's newfound support left him "no choice" but to abruptly change his stance on EVs. "I'm for electric cars. I have to be because, you know, Elon endorsed me very strongly," the former president said at a rally in Georgia on Sunday. "So, I have no choice."
Musk's "full endorsement" for Trump was publicly announced on his social media platform, X, last following the assassination attempt of the former president. Shortly after, it came to light that Musk also reportedly claimed to help create and fund the pro-Trump political action committee, America PAC. Musk was said to have pledged $45 million per month to the PAC, which is now under investigation for deceptively collecting voter data under the guise of registering them to vote. (Musk has since denied he's making such contributions.)
Trump also took delivery on a custom-wrapped Cybertruck today, an apparent gift from streamer Adin Ross:
Behind the scenes, Trump has been courting Musk for months, much as some of Silicon Valley's top entrepreneurs and VCs side with the former president as well. The Trump-Musk relationship evolved from name-slinging to calling one another several times per month according to sources. Their views and interests are now more aligned than ever on key right-leaning topics that hit hard with Trump's target demographic.
It isn't cold hard cash that the Trump-Musk bromance is built on. Instead, the relationship is built on a foundation for influence—though with a wallet Musk's size, money almost certainly helps. The duo reportedly even discussed an advisor role to the president should Trump win the election in November, allowing Musk to have influence in policies related to both the economy and border security, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Trump later clarified that while he "likes Elon" and now supports EVs, he still believes they would amount to be a "small slice" of the auto industry, and that consumers should want to have all types of propulsion tech in the industry:
"You want to have gas-propelled cars. You want to have hybrids. You want to have every kind of car," said Trump.
Trump previously claimed that "nobody wants to buy" EVs and pledged a campaign promise to "end the EV mandate" (of which there is none) less than three weeks ago. J.D. Vance, his pick for VP, even introduced legislation to end EV subsidies and instead provide the $7,500 credit to gas and diesel-powered cars built in the U.S.
Musk has said that he believes that all subsidies from all industries, including the $7,500 EV tax credit, should be removed. The CEO claims that the move would "only help Tesla" despite the automaker selling utilizing government programs like EV regulatory credits to make up more than half of its second-quarter profit this year.
Even other automakers are uncertain of what EV policy will look like following the election. Hyundai, for example, is throwing piles of cash at lobbying groups to keep EV subsidies from being nuked from orbit.
The former president's shift from EV-hater to EV-semi-endorser was extremely rapid and speaks to just how quickly EV policy could shift following the outcome of November's election. The former president's admission to having "no choice" but to be "for electric cars" already feels very much like quid-pro-quo for the support of the world's richest man.
But it's not clear what, if anything, Musk or any of his associated companies receive in return—or what could happen to the industry if the bromance falls on bad terms and breaks up.
