The spat erupted after the tech billionaire criticised a tax and spending bill backed by Trump, which among things includes an increase to the national debt ceiling – a policy Musk has publicly condemned.
Tesla stock fell by over 14 per cent on Thursday, with $153bn (£113bn) wiped off its market capitalisation, making it the second-worst hit the company has taken since 2020.
In March, Trump inappropriately held a White House press conference in front of one of Elon Musk’s Tesla cars (Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)
While Tesla stock rose by 3.7 per cent on Friday, it dropped again by around one per cent shortly after US markets opened on Monday.
Trump also threatened Musk with “very serious consequences” if he backs Democratic candidates challenging the “big, beautiful bill”, which has moved to the US Senate after passing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Trump told NBC News has “no intention” of speaking to Musk, who he accused of being “disrespectful to the office of the President”.
Peter Wells, professor of business and sustainability at Cardiff University, argued that one potential way forward for Musk is to step down from his companies, reducing the risk that personal controversies involving the billionaire will determine their success.
The protests and calls for a boycott against the carmaker have continued over the weekend despite Musk stepping down from the role last week.
A protest against Elon Musk outside a Tesla dealership in Lisbon, Portugal (Photo: Pedro Nunes/Reuters)“This over-valuation is a combination of hopes for the future and the association with Musk himself and is in part grounded in the disruptive entry of the Tesla brand into the global electric car market.
“Arguably the best thing for Musk to do would be to walk away from all (of his) businesses. It is often the case that the characteristics that make an individual suitable as an entrepreneur are not necessarily the same as those that make a good manager of an established business.
Professor Wells warned that Tesla’s market value could see a sudden slump should Musk decide to withdraw from the company.
2. Call for backup from Silicon Valley
Electric cars, and the rules that regulate their use and sale, have been a point of contention between Musk and his Republican allies.
The bill would abolish tax credits of up to $7,500 (£5,500) for people who buy electric cars, effectively raising the cost of buying the vehicles. It would also withdraw subsidies for battery factories and lithium refineries while ending financial support for electric vehicle charging stations.
square AMERICA AnalysisElon Musk and Donald Trump are heading towards mutually assured destruction
Read More
Tesla sold regulatory credits worth $595m (£439m) in the first quarter of 2025 – exceeding the company’s net profit of $409m (£302m). Without the credits, Tesla would have reported a loss.
Musk’s fight with Trump could mean that officials at the agency will have little to fear from the White House as they pursue their probe into the technology.
“Trump has the support of the ‘tech bros’, and he probably will not want to lose that,” Professor Bhardwaj said.
Amazon, Meta and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman all made donations of $1m (£737,000) to the US President’s inaugural fund, alongside Toyota and Uber.
Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg (left), Lauren Sanchez and fiancé, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos; Google’s Sundar Pichai and X’s Elon Musk, at Donald Trump’s inauguration in January in Washington, DC (Photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Getty Images)Garnering support from Silicon Valley to lobby the Trump administration against unfavourable regulatory changes could be useful for Musk, Professor Bhardwaj said, but suggested that a better option for the world’s richest man would be to “tone down his rhetoric and recede from the stage”.
Musk has appeared to gradually withdraw from the feud, deleting inflammatory X posts, including his claim Trump featured in the Epstein files.
By Saturday, the post appeared to have been removed from the platform.
4. Use government AI data
Professor Bhardwaj suggested that Musk could offer Tesla a competitive advantage by utilising government information relating to artificial intelligence (AI) he gathered during his time at Doge.
“After all, Musk himself has been touting Tesla’s shift in direction towards AI, and currently, unique data is ‘key’ to gaining an advantage.”
The i Paper has contacted Tesla for comment.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The four options Musk has to save Tesla )
Also on site :