Sen. Chris Coons (d-del.) denounced Trump's Elon Musk's support for Tesla on Tuesday, claiming that the president would only care about raising stock prices in his close allies.
Trump announced Tuesday that he plans to buy a Tesla and tested several models parked outside the White House. The president argued that Musk is “unfairly treated” as Tesla stock prices plummeted during his administration's work.
“What I saw yesterday was that President Trump really cared about Tesla's stock price,” Coons told CNN on Wednesday. “He turned the White House into a car show and tried to help Elon Musk put the floor under the plunging stock price of Tersa.”
“In the meantime, the stock market has lost trillions of dollars in value over the past two weeks,” he continued. “Anyone who has a 401(k) should not check it out because you're just more depressed.”
The stock market has fallen over the past few weeks as Trump has collected substantial tariffs on America's closest trading partner.
The president last week imposed a 25% tariff on both Canada and Mexico, and later announced a temporary exemption from the products covered by the North American trade agreement he negotiated in his first term.
Trump implemented an additional 10% tariff on China based on the 10% import tax it imposed on Beijing products last month. He also plans to impose mutual tariffs on all countries with duties on US products starting April 2nd.
“I think we're heading into a recession as Trump is on again. “And he's driving a wedge between the US and our closest allies and trading partners.”
Trump's show of support for Tesla comes as Musk acknowledged Monday that he's “very difficult” running a number of businesses. The electric car company's share price has fallen nearly 50% since the end of last year, and the showroom is being targeted by protesters.
Tesla and SpaceX CEOs play a key role in the new administration, leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) huge cost-cutting efforts.
“I just want people to know that you're not punished for being a patriot, he's a great patriot and he did an incredible job at Tesla,” Trump told reporters Tuesday.
