> Tesla has massively benefited from subsidies to EVs, but is alienating the political party that has enabled all of that.
Well, he's expecting some reciprocity from the next administration for all his help, and Trump has said openly that he will support EVs as a consequence of Elon's strong support.
The further subsidies were not "ignoring achievement" they were subsidies that were shifting to include union labor.
The idea that it has anything to do with Tesla, as opposed to anything else, is a bit weird.
If one or two Republicans like the idea of EV subsidies without union labor, their votes could have shifted everything. But of course, there was universal condemnation of these polices by all Republicans.
What Trump is really saying is that he's for sale.
Trump also told the oil industry he's for sale. He said they should give him $1 billion and that would be a "deal" because he would help them avoid taxation and regulation:
What strong support? I recall that Elon publicly announced he was going to do a massive contribution to Trump's campaign fund, and then he announced like two days later that he wasn't going to do it.
The fun part is, as far as I understand it, the EV tax credit as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, did eventually include Teslas - even though Elon wasn't invited to the initial photo-op announcement party thrown by the White House due to the lack of unionization at Tesla factories.
On the flip side, support for the EV tax credit will probably be phased out if Trump wins according to recent articles I've read.
So then it seems it's not necessarily business logic but more about personal ego, etc.
He's extremely constrained in what he can donate directly to the campaign. Direct donations are limited to something like $4000. These donations are closely monitored.
If you want to spend millions you have to give it to a super PAC. The difference is that the super PAC cannot coordinate directly with the campaign.
That part is not super closely monitored, and the fig leaf of separation is nanometers thick.
Must didn’t announce any kind of contribution to Trump. Various left leaning social media figures ran this misinformation, however, I assume in an attempt to galvanize their side into donating and to continue their unhinged attacks on Musk.
Well, he's expecting some reciprocity from the next administration for all his help, and Trump has said openly that he will support EVs as a consequence of Elon's strong support.