President Donald Trump said he would label violence against Tesla traders such as internal terrorism, for a transcription separated by White House pool reporters, a sign of deepening links with Elon Musk.
“Tesla takeovers” have exploded across the globe in Tesla traders while people protest that they see it as a hostile taking of the Federal Government from Musk and its government efficiency department (DOGE). Some of the protests have resulted in inscriptions on Tesla signs, lit loading stations, and even Molotov cocktails have been laid in the draw of a trade.
Protests and vandalism come while Tesla’s stock price has received a hit, declining below where Trump won the presidential election in November 2024 and performing worse than the overall stock market during the same period. Tesla has also seen nasal sales globally as the brand suffers from Musk’s political exploitation.
“I will stop them,” Trump told people who commit violence against Tesla’s property. He spoke to Musk on Tuesday in the White House. “We capture anyone who does this because it is hurting a great American company.”
“And let me tell you,” Trump continued. “You do it to Tesla, and you do it for every company, we’ll catch you and go through hell.”
Under federal law, an attack on company properties can be considered domestic terrorism if the goal is to intimidate or force a civilian population, affect government property or influence government behavior through destruction, murder or abduction.
While Tesla’s protests evolved in recent weeks, the effort has been coordinated in what is now known as “#teslataTaDown”, which describes itself as a decentralized basic movement.
The organizers of the Movement said in a statement to Techcrunch that “the right to peaceful protest is a fundamental part of American democracy”.
“By singling out the business of his biggest donor as somewhat outside that democracy, Trump is telling us again who he is: a corrupt king. Americans will not stand for it,” they writes. “We are a non -violent protest movement of the protest. We oppose violence and destruction of wealth. Peaceful protest on public property is not domestic terrorism. They are trying to scare us. We will not allow them to succeed. “
The danger forward lies in the way Trump and Musk determine violence – and whether peaceful protesters will be labeled violent in the future. Trump has promised to expel international students joining protests against the Israeli war in Gaza, which raises the threat that people who have green cards or visas in the US may be under the same threat to Tesla’s protest.
Since Trump issued an executive order in January to form DOGE, an advisory committee to reduce government spending, Musk – who donated $ 260 million to a super PAC to choose Trump – has overseen widespread vacation of government employees and removing all agencies such as USAID, promoting a rage, fear, confusion.
Musk has looked at other “deletion” agencies, though its critics will indicate that its companies have benefited directly from government contracts and incentives. Spacex, for example, has received more than $ 20 billion in contracts from NASA, the Defense Department and other federal agencies, according to data from Usaspendind.gov.
Trump said Tuesday he would buy a tesla that he would “not be allowed” to drive, but that he would be used in the White House by his employees.
“I think he has been treated very unjustly by a very small group of people,” Trump told the pool report. “And I just want people to know that he can’t be penalized to be a patriot.”
This story has been updated with a comment from the #teslatadedown organizers.
