Donald Trump and Elon Musk sat down for a wide-ranging interview on Aug. 12 on the X social media platform. The Musk-Trump interview seemed to have little impact on the stocks tied to the two men, Tesla and Truth Social parent Trump Media & Technology.
Though Trump has been an outspoken opponent of electric-vehicle-friendly policies, the Tesla CEO has emerged as a key political backer by helping to create and fund a super political action committee supporting the former president's reelection bid.
That move has appeared to tone down some of Trump's criticism of the EV market. "I'm for electric cars," Trump said at an Aug. 3 rally in Atlanta, Ga. "I have to be because Elon endorsed me very strongly."
While the highly anticipated conversation didn't break any new ground on the hot-button issues of the day, it did give insight into policies Elon Musk seemed to favor in several key areas of interest to investors.
Musk Pitches 'Efficiency Commission' To Battle Inflation
The economy and inflation were a key discussion point in Monday's two-hour-plus Musk-Trump interview. Trump said that inflation has "decimated" the American people.
"It's a disaster with inflation," Trump told Musk on Aug. 12. "It doesn't matter what you make, inflation is eating you alive."
Musk offered that inflation was due to runaway government spending. And he lobbied the former president to establish what he called a "government efficiency commission" and offered his service to the committee.
"Inflation comes from government overspending because the checks never bounce when it's written by the government," Musk stated. He added that overspending on the federal level increases the money supply, which then leads to high inflation rates.
"We need to reduce our government spending," Musk continued. "I think we need a government efficiency commission to say, 'Hey, where are we spending money?'"
Musk-Trump Interview Hits On Energy Transition
Another area of interest to investors from the Musk-Trump interview? Comments on the energy transition and energy security.
Trump called for lowering energy prices by containing the cost of oil and gas products. "That doesn't mean everybody should have an electric car," Trump said. "But the gasoline, Elon, is the cost of energy."
To accomplish this, the former president expressed support for nuclear power and the expansion of oil pipeline projects. That includes the reauthorization of drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, known as ANWR. Musk and Trump also acknowledged that alternative fuel sources would be necessary as the country transitions away from oil and gas to green energy.
Musk reiterated that people should not be vilified for using oil in the short term as the energy transition continues. "I think we should just generally lean in the direction of sustainability," Musk said. "I actually think solar is just going to be a majority of Earth's energy generation in the future."
The two also discussed the importance of energy security as increased adoption of artificial intelligence continues to unfold.
"We're going to have to build a lot of energy if our country will be competitive with China, because that's our primary competitor for (AI)," Trump said. "You're going to need tremendous electricity, like almost double what we produce now for the whole country."
No EV Market Or Crypto Discussion In Musk-Trump Interview
One final takeaway for investors was what Musk and Trump didn't talk about. While the two touched on energy issues, there was no real discussion about the EV transition or the state of the electric-vehicle market.
There were also no questions about bitcoin, cryptocurrency or monetary policy in the Musk-Trump interview, despite Musk being a crypto enthusiast. Trump did recently deliver the keynote speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July, calling for a U.S. government strategic reserve of bitcoin.
In the end, Musk summarized why he was endorsing the Republican presidential candidate. "We've got to have safe cities, we've got to have secure borders, we've got to have sensible spending," Musk stated. "And we've got to have deregulation so we can have a prosperous future."
DJT Stock Continues Slide
DJT stock dropped 3.6% to 23.98 on Tuesday after the Musk-Trump interview. Shares extended their losses in Wednesday's trading tape. Trump Media's report late Friday of another quarter of sub-$1 million revenue is also weighing on the Trump stock, which is near its lowest levels since coming public in late March.
DJT stock's retreat over the past few weeks also could be reflecting Trump's declining campaign fortunes. Shares hit a short-term high of 46.27 on July 15 following the Trump assassination attempt. Trump's lead in the polls peaked soon after, with President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race. Vice President Kamala Harris, the new presumptive Democratic nominee, is now leading in many national and swing-state polls.
Tesla Stock Steadies
In the past there has been analyst speculation that Musk's political statements have had some impact on the Tesla brand and its stock value. But that doesn't appear to be the case with the Musk-Trump interview.
Tesla rose 5% on Aug. 13 to 207.83. That move pushed shares above their flattening 200-day line. TSLA stock undercut that level again in Wednesday's intraday trading.
Shares are up a fraction for the week.
Last week, Tesla dropped 3.7%, though it came well off lows. Since hitting a 2024 high of 271 on July 11, Tesla stock has fallen 26%.
Tesla stock ranks third in the 35-member IBD Auto Manufacturers industry group. The stock has a 57 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. Shares have a 58 Relative Strength Rating and a 58 EPS Rating.
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