Dear Trump, boycotting Tesla was never ‘illegal’

Another week, another Trump and Elon Musk controversy. It never ends. The latest involves Trump endorsing Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, and erroneously calling boycotts against Tesla “illegal.”

Since Trump took office on January 20, 2025, his appointed right-hand man, Musk, has been busy making the U.S government an absolute mess. As reported by the BBC, Musk’s unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was set up to “clean up” government and “drain the swamp” of so-called inefficiency. So far, though, it seems DOGE has mostly spread misinformation and laid off a ton of government workers.

Tesla has been in hot water lately because of its relationship with Musk, leading to nationwide calls for boycotts. President Trump wasn’t a fan of the public’s response. He quickly came to Musk’s defense in a press conference on March 11, praising the alleged high quality of the vehicles and Musk’s patriotism. Trump also posted a long rant about the boycotts on social media, going so far as to call them “illegal.”

On Truth Social, the president wrote:

“The Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s “baby,” in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for. They tried to do it to me at the 2024 Presidential Ballot Box, but how did that work out? In any event, I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American.”

This long-winded rant was, of course, roundly mocked on social media. X user @acnewsitics asked the question we’re all thinking: “Hey MAGA, serious question. How is boycotting something ‘illegal’?”

Another X user named @covie_93 posted, “The boycott of Tesla was so effective it got the President of the United States out here behaving like a car salesman at the WH.” Loolllll.

User @RBReich points out the obvious truth here about the legality of boycotting: “Boycotting Tesla is not ‘illegal,’ as Trump claims. The purpose of a boycott is to send a clear message: We the people have the power and choice to not give our hard-earned cash to billionaire oligarchs.” Well said.

Trump is now the biggest Tesla salesman in the world

As reported by NBC News, Trump didn’t just praise the electric cars themselves, but turned the white house lawn into a showroom for Tesla car models on March 11. There were five Tesla cars parked in front of the White House while Trump waxed poetic about their elegance and beauty. “As soon as I saw it, I said, ‘That is the coolest design,’” Trump told reporters.

This is particularly funny because Trump has spent most of his political career attacking electric cars and promoting gas-powered vehicles. Now that Tesla shares are in steep decline, Trump is on the front line defending both Musk’s “honor” and Tesla’s reputation as a brand.

These four years will be long, folks, and things will only get worse and more absurd from here on out. Trump’s endorsement of Tesla and the Department of Education’s mass layoffs are, sadly, just the start.