Washington [US], March 12: US President Donald Trump said the boycott of Tesla cars is 'illegal', and announced that he would buy one to support billionaire Elon Musk.
After viewing billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla electric cars at the White House on March 11, US President Donald Trump said he bought one to support the car company, after the company was boycotted in protest of the Government Efficiency Board led by Mr. Musk, which fired many federal government employees.
Mr. Trump chose to buy a Tesla Model S, a car model with a starting price of 80,000 USD (more than 2 billion VND), according to Reuters.
Sitting in the driver's seat of the shiny red car, the White House boss said he no longer drives it, but will keep it at the White House for staff. Besides, he said he did not want Mr. Musk to reduce the price.
Tesla shares rose 4% at the close of trading on March 11, after having their biggest one-day drop in 4 1/2 years on March 10.
Activists have recently staged protests called Tesla Takedown to express their discontent over Mr. Musk's role in drastically cutting the federal workforce at the behest of Mr. Trump and canceling funding contracts for humanitarian programs around the world.
"They're hurting a great American company," Mr Trump said at the White House, standing next to Mr Musk. Nearby, several Tesla vehicles lined the driveway between the mansion and the south lawn. The US president warned that those who "do this to any company" would "go to hell".
White House spokesman Harrison Fields said that "the ongoing brutal acts of violence against Tesla by radical left-wing activists are nothing short of domestic terrorism."
A group identifying itself as Tesla Takedown organizers said their peaceful public protest was not an act of domestic terrorism. "They are trying to intimidate us. We will not let them succeed," the group said in a statement on social media.
Tesla's market capitalization has more than halved since hitting a peak of $1.5 trillion on Feb. 17, 2024, erasing most of the gains the stock made after Musk-backed Trump won the November 2024 election.
But at the White House event, billionaire Musk said he would double the number. "Thanks to the great policies of President Trump and his administration, and the actions that demonstrate confidence in America, Tesla will double its production of vehicles in the US within the next 2 years," he said.
Billionaire Musk is currently the richest person in the world with a fortune of 342.3 billion USD, according to Forbes magazine.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
