Tesla shares dropped over 7% in early trading on Monday as investors reacted to growing political drama surrounding CEO Elon Musk, who announced plans to launch a new U.S. political party — a move that made President Donald Trump say that he Tesla’s chief is going “completely ‘off the rails'”.
As of the time of writing, Tesla shares are falling 7.05% in pre-market trading to $293, after hitting a one-month low of $291 earlier in the session, as concerns mounted over Musk’s leadership focus and the potential fallout from his deepening clash with Trump.
The US president, who previously welcomed Musk’s endorsement during his 2024 campaign, denounced the move and accused Tesla’s chief of fostering “disruption and chaos.”
“I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.
“He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States… The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS,” Trump added.
On Sunday, Musk wrote on X, “When & where should we hold the inaugural American Party congress? This will be super fun!”
The US President said Musk had given him his “total and unquestioned Endorsement,” despite knowing Trump was committed to repealing federal EV mandates.
Musk has been agains the EV mandates for several years. However, the Tesla and SpaceX chief has been also vocal against all other subsidies for oil and gas.
“I asked him whether or not he knew that I was going to terminate the EV Mandate… He said he had no problems with that — I was very surprised!” Trump added.
The post also accused Musk of pushing to have “one of his close friends” appointed to lead NASA — a move Trump claimed would have been a “conflict of interest” given the scale of Musk’s space business.
“I thought it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon’s corporate life,” Trump said.
The fallout comes just days after Tesla reported its second-quarter vehicle deliveries fell 13% year-on-year to 384,122 units, the lowest quarterly figure since 2022.
Adding to the tensions, Musk on Monday posted a meme on X referencing Jeffrey Epstein’s unsealed files and suggested again that Trump’s name is among them.
“What’s the time? Oh look, it’s no-one-has-been-arrested-o’clock again …” he wrote above an image of an “Epstein Ped****** Arrest Counter” set to zero.
The post recalled an earlier claim by Musk in early June, in which he wrote
“@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.” The tweet, viewed more than 10 million times, was later deleted — but not before Musk had signed off with: “Have a nice day, DJT.”
Here’s the full statement from Donald Trump on Truth Social platform:
“I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely “off the rails,” essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks.
He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States – The System seems not designed for them.
The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS, and we have enough of that with the Radical Left Democrats, who have lost their confidence and their minds!
Republicans, on the other hand, are a smooth running “machine,” that just passed the biggest Bill of its kind in the History of our Country. It is a Great Bill but, unfortunately for Elon, it eliminates the ridiculous Electric Vehicle (EV) Mandate, which would have forced everyone to buy an Electric Car in a short period of time.
I have been strongly opposed to that from the very beginning. People are now allowed to buy whatever they want – Gasoline Powered, Hybrids (which are doing very well), or New Technologies as they come about – No more EV Mandate.
I have campaigned on this for two years and, quite honestly, when Elon gave me his total and unquestioned Endorsement, I asked him whether or not he knew that I was going to terminate the EV Mandate – It was in every speech I made, and in every conversation I had. He said he had no problems with that – I was very surprised!
Additionally, Elon asked that one of his close friends run NASA and, while I thought his friend was very good, I was surprised to learn that he was a blue blooded Democrat, who had never contributed to a Republican before.
Elon probably was, also. I also thought it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon’s corporate life. My Number One charge is to protect the American Public!”
