Trump to buy a Tesla to combat stock plunge

Bad day for Elon Musk on Monday, 10th March 2025. Tesla's stock lost 15% of its value in a single session. It's the continuation of an almost constant decline since late December 2024. But Trump has the solution...

On 17th December 2024, Tesla's stock peaked at $479.86 while it was valued at "only" $251.44 on 5th November 2024, the day of the US presidential election. By November 8th, the stock had surpassed $300, approaching $500 by the end of 2025. However, all the valuation gained since Donald Trump came to power has since declined. The movement was slow and inexorable before accelerating on Monday, 11th March 2025. In one day, Tesla's stock lost 15% to hit $222.15. Since the beginning of 2025, the stock has fallen by 41.43% to return to about the same level as September 2024 (-2.62%). Surely, in March 2024, Tesla was worth little more than $177, but if the decline continues, the stock could fall below the $200 mark.

The causes

The main cause of the drop in question is an alarmist forecast by an analyst on sales which hastened the erosion. Elon Musk's behaviour since his appointment by Donald Trump also has to do with the distrust in question. This has led to a sort of rejection of the brand, sometimes with a clearly displayed boycott. It has also instigated acts of sabotage or vandalism against Tesla facilities. With a few rare exceptions, such as an increase in registrations in February 2025 in the UK, its sales are collapsing everywhere in Europe (including Norway), Canada and China. And in the United States, the order books are hardly any stronger. More broadly, the New York Stock Exchange session on the 10th March was in the red for key tech companies. Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, NVidia, all fell back. The Nasdaq 100 had its worst day since 2022 due to recession risks. Investor capital is even reportedly being transferred to European and Asian funds.

Donald in Tesla

In reaction to this Black Monday for Tesla, Donald Trump stated on X (amid social media network outages) that he was going to buy a brand new Tesla "as a sign of confidence and support for Elon Musk". According to him, his "wonderful" advisor is the target of the "radical left lunatics". He added that, "as they often do, they're trying to illegally boycott [...] Tesla, one of the world's largest car manufacturers and Elon's 'baby', in order to attack and harm Elon and everything he stands for". For now, Tesla remains the leader in electric cars. It has even launched the new version of its Model Y, called Juniper. But its leadership is clearly threatened, notably by the Chinese company BYD. Another piece of bad news for Tesla: the competition from established or newly created manufacturers allows for a boycott of the brand without having to forgo electric mobility.

(MH with Olivier Duquesne – Sources: Le Soir with Belga & 7sur7.be – Picture: © Tesla)