The US Division of State is planning to spend $400m shopping for new Tesla armoured automobiles, even because the carmaker’s boss, Elon Musk, leads efforts to slash authorities spending underneath Donald Trump.
A procurement forecast produced by the division confirmed the $400m (£320m) proposed spending on “armoured Tesla (manufacturing models)”. They’re more likely to be Cybertrucks, the most recent mannequin of the corporate’s electrical pickup, given Musk’s claims that the car is bulletproof.
The revelation raises the potential of extra conflicts of curiosity for Musk, who is among the largest beneficiaries of US authorities contracts by means of the businesses he controls.
Musk’s stake in Tesla accounts for the majority of his $383bn wealth, however his rocket firm, SpaceX, is crucial contractor offering area launch providers to the US authorities.
But Trump has additionally put Musk in control of the so-called division of presidency effectivity, or Doge, named after an web canine meme. Musk has set about gutting authorities departments he has accused – with out offering substantiated proof – of big quantities of fraud and waste. Doge’s efforts have been criticised as unlawful by many consultants, who’ve stated it’s a part of a string of actions by the Trump administration that seem to ignore the US structure.
Musk appeared to substantiate the plans on Thursday in a put up on X, the social community he additionally owns, though he steered that the sum the corporate receives could possibly be decrease. Different contractors could possibly be concerned in upgrading automobiles, relying on the extent of safety required.
Musk wrote: “I’m fairly certain Tesla isn’t getting $400m. Nobody talked about it to me, no less than.”
The Division of State forecast doc suggests the Tesla contract might be awarded on the finish of September. It lists the procurement as within the “planning” part.
The division web site incorporates two variations of the forecast doc. The first confirmed the Tesla deliberate procurement, entered on 13 December 2024, in accordance with the doc. That was a month after Trump’s election, however earlier than he took workplace final month.
Nonetheless, one other model confirmed the entry was “modified” on Wednesday night, apparently after the procurement was first reported by Drop Website Information, an impartial outlet. That entry was similar to the earlier model besides that the reference to “Tesla” was eliminated. As an alternative, it stated the division would procure “armoured electrical automobiles” (EVs), with out referencing a model identify.
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The US authorities often procures armoured automobiles. The identical procurement doc contained entries for an “armoured sedan” and “armoured EV (not sedan)” made by unnamed producers, plus “armoured BMW X5/X7”. These contracts had been valued at $50m, $40m and $40m respectively.
Tesla and the US Division of State had been approached for remark.
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