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Trump bought and publicly endorsed a Tesla from the White House lawn amid Musk's DOGE-tied stock boycott

On March 11, 2025, President Trump held a White House South Lawn event where he inspected and announced the purchase of a red Tesla Model S alongside Tesla CEO and DOGE lead Elon Musk, amid a Tesla stock decline tied to consumer boycotts over Musk's government role. Former White House chief ethics lawyer Richard Painter said Trump's on-camera endorsement of a specific consumer product from federal grounds appeared to violate rules against using public office for private gain.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On March 11, 2025, President Trump used the White House South Lawn as a temporary Tesla showroom, personally inspecting and announcing the purchase of a red Tesla Model S alongside Tesla CEO and White House DOGE lead Elon Musk. The event came amid a sharp decline in Tesla's stock price and organized consumer boycotts tied to Musk's prominent role leading the Department of Government Efficiency inside the federal government. Trump praised Musk on camera and promoted the company by name from the White House grounds; a spokesperson later said Trump "made the personal decision to buy a Tesla, at a market rate," without disclosing a purchase price.

Richard Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, said the display appeared to violate federal rules against using public office for private gain, calling it "government picking winners and losers." NBC News noted it was highly unusual for a senior government official, let alone a sitting president, to endorse a consumer product this explicitly, drawing comparisons to Kellyanne Conway's 2017 ethics violation for promoting Ivanka Trump's clothing line. Sen. Chris Murphy said of the episode, "Just because the corruption plays out in public doesn't mean it's not corruption."

Why we recorded this

Federal ethics rules bar officials from using public office to promote private businesses or benefit financially from their position. Here, the sitting president used the White House grounds to personally endorse and purchase stock in a company run by his own senior adviser, days after that adviser's dual role atop a federal efficiency initiative and a publicly traded corporation triggered a stock selloff. A former White House ethics counsel said the display met the definition of using public office for private gain — conduct normally kept out of public view that instead unfolded openly on the White House lawn.

Sources

  1. Trump buys a Tesla with Elon Musk in tow, at the White House — NPR primary accessed July 9, 2026
  2. Trump turns the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom — NBC News secondary accessed July 9, 2026
  3. Trump Turns White House Into Tesla Lot to Boost Struggling Stock — Rolling Stone secondary accessed July 9, 2026

See also