Tesla (TSLA) stock slumped again on Thursday as the fallout continued to emerge from the very public policy blowout between President Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
“Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL,” Musk posted on X on Wednesday.
Musk added, “If the massive deficit spending continues, there will only be money for interest payments and nothing else!”
The vocal criticism is irking Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported, with a senior official claiming that White House advisors were “caught off guard” by Musk’s latest broadsides.
The Wall Street Journal further reported that the strain between the two was amplified by the White House’s move to nix the nomination of Jared Isaacman for NASA administrator. Musk, a close ally of Isaacman, had advocated for him to get the job, sources told the Wall Street Journal.
Tesla stock fell solidly on Wednesday and extended those losses in premarket trading on Thursday, down as much as 3%.
Musk’s comments come after the one-time leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) waded earnestly into the debate over the bill this week, angrily posting Tuesday that it was a “disgusting abomination.”
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” he said.
“Shame on those” who voted for it in the House, Musk added.
Bloomberg reported that Musk may also be driven by the fact that the federal EV tax credit is being phased out by the bill, as he fought hard to keep it in place as a key driver for Tesla’s business.
Musk’s barrage comes as the bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, and a Congressional Budget Office estimation of its impact on the deficit adds fuel to Musk’s line of argument.
The nonpartisan office projected the House-passed version of the bill would add $2.4 trillion to deficits over the next 10 years.
DOGE itself, once led by Musk, has been criticized for not producing the budgetary cuts Musk touted it could find—and the cuts it has produced have been deeply unpopular.
Musk’s closeness to the Trump administration had been seen as a boon for Tesla, given its business with SpaceX and NASA and the regulatory levers the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration could pull in getting autonomous driving rules in place for Tesla’s robotaxi testing.
Read more: How to avoid the sticker shock on Tesla car insurance
But demand weakness in the EU and recent protests at US Tesla showrooms have followed Musk’s controversial foray into politics, causing some Tesla owners to become alienated by Musk, specifically by his right-leaning tendencies, DOGE, and outward support of President Trump.
Tesla’s big robotaxi test is slated for June 12 in Austin. Much of the company’s value is tied to whether it can fully unlock autonomous driving for robotaxi purposes and individual owners.
Meanwhile, Alphabet’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Waymo continues to plow ahead and is essentially the leader in the space, accumulating 250,000 robotaxi trips per week.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.
For the latest earnings reports and analysis, earnings whispers and expectations, and company earnings news, click here
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
