Topline
Tesla shares fell more than 5% in premarket trading early Tuesday morning after President Donald Trump suggested government subsidies for Elon Musk’s companies—including Tesla—should be scrutinized by the Department of Government Efficiency, as the billionaire CEO attacked Trump’s signature spending bill and threatened to form a new political party.
Tesla's shares fell more than 5% in premarket trading amid a reignited Trump and Musk feud.
Tesla’s stock price briefly dropped below $300 after Trump attacked Musk and claimed his companies received more subsidies “than any human being in history.”
The electric vehicle maker’s stock eventually settled at around $301.10, down 5.2%, early Tuesday.
Tesla’s shares have now fallen more than 9.2% since a public feud between the president and the world’s richest person started last month.
Tesla’s shares had sunk below $285 last month, when Musk and Trump first started attacking each other publicly, but they managed to mount a full recovery later in the month amid signs of a detente between the two.
Elon Musk’s net worth is $406.5 billion, making him the world’s richest person by a significant margin on Forbes’ Real Time Billionaires List. This is likely to drop after markets open on Tuesday if the premarket dip holds.
The slide in Tesla’s shares came after Trump reacted to Musk’s criticism of his signature budget bill and the billionaire’s threat to fund primary challenges against GOP members voting for this bill. Musk attacked the bill in a series of posts on his X platform and said, “If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day.” Trump retaliated with a Truth Social Post suggesting that, without federal government subsidies, Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, may need to “close up shop,” and the billionaire may be forced to “head back home to South Africa.” The president added cost-cutting agency DOGE, which was previously led by Musk, should examine the cost of the subsidies to Musk’s companies and appeared to suggest there was “BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED” by getting rid of them. Musk responded to the threat by tweeting: “I am literally saying CUT IT ALL. Now.”
“Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed [sic] me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate. It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one,” the president said in his post.