Tesla shares slide as Trump renews attack on Musk over EV subsidies

Tesla stock tumbled more than 4% in after-hours trading and continued to decline in pre-market action, following fresh criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump aimed at CEO Elon Musk and the electric vehicle subsidy program.

In a series of sarcastic posts on Truth Social, Trump accused Musk of being overly reliant on government handouts. “Elon might be the biggest subsidy recipient in human history. Without subsidies, he'd probably have to shut down and go back to South Africa,” the president wrote.

Trump went on to say that Musk was well aware of his opposition to EV subsidies long before endorsing him in the presidential race. “I’ve always said EVs are fine, but no one should be forced to buy one. It’s ridiculous,” Trump stated.

He added: “No more rocket launches, satellites, or electric cars, and we’d save a fortune as a country,” before concluding with a jab: “Maybe we should ask DOGE to look into this — lots of money to be saved!”

The reference to DOGE, a nod to the cryptocurrency dogecoin that Musk often jokes about, appeared to further inflame tensions between the two. Musk responded curtly on X: “I’m literally saying: stop. Now.”

Relations between Trump and Musk have deteriorated in recent weeks, particularly after Musk openly criticized the president’s sweeping tax cut plan, which was recently approved by Congress. Musk claimed the plan would significantly increase the national debt and undo the spending cuts engineered by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which had been overseen by the Tesla CEO before he stepped down from the advisory role.