President Donald Trump said he would describe violence against Tesla representatives as domestic terrorism, per transcription shared by White House pool journalists, a sign of ties deepening with Elon Musk.
“Tesla acquisitions” have erupted around the world in Tesla delegations, as people are complaining about what they consider to be hostile to Musk’s federal government and the efficiency of the Ministry of Government (Doge). Some of the protests have led to graffiti on tesla signs, charging stations that fire, and even Molotov cocktail thrown into a batch of a delegation.
Protests and vandalism come as Tesla’s stock price has taken a hitFalling below the point where Trump was over, he won the presidential election in November 2024 and worsened by the total stock market during the same period. Tesla has also seen Worldwide sales As the brand suffers from Musk’s political exploits.
“I’ll stop them,” Trump said of people who commit violence against Tesla ownership. Talk to Musk on Tuesday at the White House. “We take anyone who does this because they hurt a large American company.”
“And let me tell you,” Trump continued. “Do it at Tesla. And do it in any company. We’ll catch you and go through hell.”
According to federal law, An attack on the company’s ownership could be considered domestic terrorism if the intention is to intimidate or force a political population, to influence government property, or to influence government behavior through destruction, murder or abduction.
As Tesla protests have evolved in recent weeks, the effort has forgiven what is now known as “#Teslatakedown“That describes himself as a decentralized base movement.
The organizers on the movement said in a statement to TechCrunch that “the right to peaceful protest is a fundamental part of American democracy”.
“By distinguishing the work of the greatest donor as somewhat out of this Republic, Trump again shows us who he is: a corrupt potential king. The Americans will not support this,” they wrote. “We are a non -violent Laiki protest movement. We are facing violence and destruction of property. The peaceful protest of public property is not domestic terrorism. They are trying to intimidate us. We will not let them succeed.”
The danger ahead lies in how Trump and Musk determine violence – and whether peaceful protesters will be described as violent in the future. Trump has promised to release international students involved in protests against the Israeli war in Gaza, which raises the threat that people with green cards or visas in the US could threaten the same threat to Tesla’s protest.
Since Trump issued an executive mandate in January to form Doge, a Counseling Committee to reduce government expenditure, Musk – who donates $ 260 million to a super PAC to elect Trump – has supervised the widespread widespread and widespread Usaid, promoting an environment of anger, confusion and chaos, according to Some reports.
Musk has looked at other organizations for “deletion”, although his critics will point out that his companies have benefited directly by government contracts and incentives. SpaceX, for example, has received more than $ 20 billion in contracts from NASA, the Ministry of Defense and other federal services, According to the data From usasaspending.gov.
Trump said on Tuesday that he would buy a Tesla that “he will not be allowed” to drive, but that he would be used in the White House by his employees.
“I think it has been very unjustly treated by a very small group of people,” Trump said, according to the pool report. “And I just want people to know that he can’t be punished to be a patriot.”
This story has been informed by a comment by the organizers #teslatakedown.
