Trump strikes softer tone on EVs after Musk endorsement

Former President Trump has softened his tone on electric vehicles (EVs) following his backing from Tesla’s Elon Musk.

Over the weekend, Trump said, “I’m for electric cars. I have to be, because Elon endorsed me very strongly. So I have no choice.”

Trump, who has frequently railed against policies that support electric vehicles, is still expected to oppose environmental regulations put forward by the Biden administration.

He clarified during his Atlanta rally that he only supports EVs “for a small slice,” adding, “You want to have gas-propelled cars, you want to have hybrids, you want to have every kind of a car imaginable.” 

Trump made similarly positive remarks in Michigan, saying, “I’ve driven them and they are incredible, but they’re not for everybody.”

The expressions of support for EVs begs the question about the extent to which Musk — and his significant fortune — will move Trump on the issue. 

“I would expect that a Trump posture would not be forcing the traditional automakers into mandates that require them to do EVs, but there could be tax incentives… which would be beneficial to Tesla,” Republican strategist Jason Cabel Roe said.

Neither the Trump campaign nor Tesla responded to The Hill’s request for comment. Trump said last month that Musk hadn’t pressured him to “lay off” his criticism of electric cars. 

Yet, the former president’s ambivalent cadence this past weekend stands in stark contrast to previous remarks about EVs. He infamously warned in March that reelecting the Democratic candidate would result in a “blood bath” for the auto industry. 

The shift follows Musk’s endorsement. 

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the pair have discussed an advisory role for Musk in a second Trump administration and that Musk would give $45 million per month to a pro-Trump PAC.

Musk, the richest person in the world, has denied committing that sum, saying he’d be making donations “at a much lower level.”

Previously, Trump has lambasted not only a Biden rule expected to push the market toward more EVs, but also tax incentives for consumers, lamenting the current administration “is spending hundreds of billions of dollars to give $7,500 tax credits to rich people who buy electric cars.”

“Well, I like Elon, but the car. … I’m all for them if you want to go to the candy store, buy yourself a little candy and come back home,” Trump said earlier this year. “But if you want to take a trip to a place like Mar-a-Lago to say hello to me, you better get yourself a different mode of transportation.”

His distaste for the vehicles has been part of a broader effort to court autoworkers and other blue-collar workers in the Midwest. 

Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for transportation and mobility at Guidehouse Insights, told The Hill that Tesla, like other automakers, benefits from a consumer tax credit for EVs that President Biden signed into law in 2022. 

In fact, Abuelsamid said eliminating a tax credit for EVs would likely hurt Tesla more than other automakers in the short term, “because at least other manufacturers have other products that they can sell” while Tesla exclusively sells EVs. 

Not only would Tesla benefit if the credit remained in place, Abuelsamid said, the company would also benefit from leeway in its implementation. 

“I suspect that he’ll want to keep those rules as flexible as possible,” he said. 

However, Musk himself has posted online that removing the subsidy will “only help Tesla.” 

Meanwhile, Trump is still sharply criticizing another Biden policy that Abuelsamid said could benefit Tesla: federal funds for EV chargers.

Trump lamented that billions of dollars were set aside for the effort, while just a small number of chargers have been built thus far. 

“The whole thing is crazy,” he told the crowd in Atlanta.