Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made no apologies for his cost-cutting efforts in the federal government, but he’s reportedly been working behind the scenes to persuade President Trump away from the heaviest of his announced tariff plans. The Washington Post cited two sources that said Musk spent the weekend petitioning the president to undo the tariffs he’d announced earlier last week.
Neither the White House nor Musk would confirm the report, but if true, it represents a significant split from the pair’s cozy public relationship. Speaking remotely at an event in Italy over the weekend, Musk proposed zero tariffs between the European Union and the U.S., and he has acknowledged that tariffs would have an outsized impact on Tesla’s operations.
It’s unclear for how much longer the CEO will remain a regular part of the Trump White House. The two have reportedly discussed the executive’s exit from full-time political involvement, and Musk is expected to step into an advisory role once that happens. In the meantime, Tesla appears to be in a decent position with the new tariffs, as it has a high degree of vertical integration and many components made in the United States.
The automaker’s operations and tariff impacts were the subject of a dispute between Musk and Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, after he told CNBC in an interview that Tesla is not a vehicle manufacturer but is instead a “car assembler,” using parts manufactured in other countries. In typical fashion, Musk replied on X, saying Navarro was ”dumber than a sack of bricks” and noting that Tesla has a high percentage of U.S. content in its product line.
[Images: Tesla]
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