Trump Shifts Tone on Support for Musk’s Companies

Recently, Donald Trump remarked on his desire for Elon Musk’s businesses, and American companies more broadly, to “thrive.” This contrasts with his earlier stance of cutting federal subsidies to Musk’s ventures.

There was a notable conflict between Trump and Musk regarding the funding outlined in Trump’s proposed “One, Big Beautiful Bill.” The friction arose when Trump threatened to pull federal support for Musk’s companies due to their disagreement over the bill’s spending levels.

Observers, including Trump, suggest that Musk was against the bill from the beginning, primarily because it proposed eliminating federal electric vehicle (EV) subsidies and phasing out the EV tax credit, which would have greatly benefited Musk’s Tesla.

It’s worth mentioning that the EV tax credit is just one kind of federal EV subsidy. The broader category of federal EV subsidies includes various forms of financial support for the entire EV ecosystem, such as grants and loans to EV manufacturers, infrastructure funding for charging stations, and regulatory credits exchanged between car companies.

Despite this, Musk characterized Trump’s spending bill as a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill [that] is a disgusting abomination.”

Furthermore, Trump had previously commented, “DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible?” suggesting that while Musk receives significant subsidies, he was upset about the proposed termination of the EV mandate.

In a surprising turn, Trump seems to be mending fences, as indicated by a post he shared on Truth Social recently.

“Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elon’s companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large-scale subsidies he receives from the U.S. Government. This is not so! I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE, in fact, THRIVE, like never before! The better they do, the better the USA does, and that’s good for all of us. We are setting records every day, and I want to keep it that way!” Trump stated.

Interestingly, while Trump has previously made certain claims, Musk has also voiced a wish to eliminate government subsidies altogether, despite Tesla benefiting from significant tax credits over the years.

Musk has expressed that neither Tesla nor any industry requires public subsidies, arguing that government is generally not effective at allocating resources, as reported by Business Insider.

On another note, Trump signed three resolutions on June 12, terminating California’s initiative to phase out diesel-powered medium and heavy-duty trucks by 2036. This action reverses California’s ability to enforce stringent emissions standards for diesel engines and cancels the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of California’s low-nitrogen oxide regulations for heavy-duty vehicles.

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