Tag: Tesla

  • State Department omits ‘armored Tesla’ mention from 2025 budget procurement

    State Department omits ‘armored Tesla’ mention from 2025 budget procurement

    As Tesla, SpaceX and now Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader Elon Musk has faced recent criticism for his role in the Trump administration, one of his top-earning companies seems to have been scrubbed from the State Department’s budget forecast.

    The State Department released an updated version of its “Procurement Forecast Fiscal Year 2025” this week, noting that there’s a “new” requirement for “armored electric vehicles” set to receive between $100 million to $500 million in investments.

    Multiple news organizations have reported that a December version of the document had the line item listed as “armored Teslas,” valued at $400 million with a five-year contract. That requirement description has since been changed.

    The original line item additionally did not specify what kind of armored Tesla models would be purchased.

    MUSK CLAIMS THERE ARE 150-YEAR-OLDS RECEIVING SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS

    In response to the news, Musk posted on X Thursday: “I’m pretty sure Tesla isn’t getting $400M. No one mentioned it to me, at least.”

    The State Department confirmed to Fox News Digital that neither Tesla nor any other automaker has been awarded a government contract for “armored electric vehicles.” (Getty Images)

    A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the original generic entry should have read “electric vehicle manufacturer,” and that no government contract has been awarded to Tesla or any other automaker.

    The spokesperson also said that the previous administration asked the State Department to explore interest from private companies to produce armored electric vehicles. In response to that request, a public request for information was issued to solicit interest and they received notice from only one company at that time.

    As a next step in that process, the State Department spokesperson added that official solicitation would be sent out to automakers for bidding. However, the solicitation is “on hold and there are no current plans to issue it.”

    According to its website, the State Department forecast is updated annually in the first quarter of the fiscal year.

    Democratic Party leaders have launched profanity-laced attacks against Musk and his actions under the DOGE chair title. The budget-slashing department has targeted multiple federal agencies within the first two months of President Donald Trump taking office, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

    Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said, “Elon Musk is a Nazi nepo baby, a godless lawless billionaire, who no one elected,” at a rally outside the Treasury Department, where protesters were speaking out against DOGE.

    “Elon, this is the American people. This is not your trashy Cybertruck that you can just dismantle, pick apart, and sell the pieces of,” she continued.

    “We are gonna be in your face, we are gonna be on your a–es, and we are going to make sure you understand what democracy looks like, and this ain’t it,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said at the same rally.

    GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was also in attendance and told the crowd that Musk’s DOGE efforts are “taking away everything we have.”

    On Wednesday, Musk visited the Oval Office to speak with members of the press and answer questions around DOGE, where he reiterated his belief that it’s not “optional” but “essential” to cut federal spending.

    READ MORE FROM FOX BUSINESS

    Fox News’ Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.

  • Candidate for Canadian prime minister pledges to target Tesla vehicles with 100% tariffs

    Candidate for Canadian prime minister pledges to target Tesla vehicles with 100% tariffs

    A top Canadian lawmaker and candidate to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for a 100% tariff on Tesla vehicles in an effort to counter tariffs from President Donald Trump.

    Chrystia Freeland worked as Trudeau’s finance minister until she resigned in January, now running to replace Trudeau as prime minister. The thrust of her economic policy urges Canada to inflict “the biggest trade blow that the United States has ever endured.”

    “We are going to go after American stakeholders who matter to the White House,” Freeland told CNN this week. “I have proposed a 100 percent tariff on all Teslas. I am calling on all the countries that are affected by this tariff to join us, and our retaliation will target specific Trump constituencies.”

    Freeland also targeted dairy farmers in Wisconsin, saying they are “important” to Trump.

    MEXICO AGREES TO DEPLOY 10,000 TROOPS TO US BORDER IN EXCHANGE FOR TARIFF PAUSE

    Elon Musk’s Tesla could be hit with tariffs in Canada if Chrystia Freeland wins election. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

    “”We’re not going to let them sell their products in Canada anymore,” she said.

    Freeland’s threats come after Trump issued pauses on the tariff plans against both Canada and Mexico. Both countries agreed to some capitulations in order to stave off the tariffs and give time for further negotiations.

    PALANTIR CEO TOUTS ELON MUSK’S DOGE, ABILITY TO HOLD ‘SACRED COW OF THE DEEP STATE’ ACCOUNTABLE

    BERLIN, GERMANY - MARCH 09: Chrystia Freeland, Canada's deputy prime minister and finance minister, speaks to the media on March 09, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)

    Chrystia Freeland, a former official in Trudeau’s government, has vowed tariffs against Trump allies. (Thomas Trutschel / Getty Images)

    Freeland’s call echoes sentiment from other Canadian officials as well. Canadian lawmaker Jagmeet Singh proposed that Canada should “fight back” against Trump’s tariff threat.

    “Elon Musk has been very loud. Very vocal attacking our country. We’re not going to let that stand. So if you are going to take a shot at us, we’re going to fight back,” Singh told reporters earlier this week. “So Elon Musk thinks he can tweet off whatever he wants. Yeah, we’re going to put a tariff on him. I want that to be something that impacts him.”

    CNN host Boris Sanchez spoke to Singh on Monday, asking about how Canadians feel about Trump’s talk of bringing Canada in as the 51st state. Singh noted that Canadians are known for being polite, but warned, “don‘t take our kindness for weakness” and said “hell no” to the proposal.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    “I believe in being good neighbors and having good relationships, but I believe very firmly Donald Trump only understands force. He‘s acted as a bully in many circumstances, and now he‘s acting as an economic bully. The only language that bullies understand is the language of strength. So we have to show that we‘re ready to fight back,” Singh replied. “We might be smaller. We might be up against a larger opponent, but it‘s going to hurt both of us. It‘s a bad thing to do. It‘s going to hurt Americans. It‘s going to hurt Canadians. We need to show that it‘s the wrong thing to do, and also show that we‘re ready to fight back and defend what we have.”

  • Newly discovered asteroid turns out to be Tesla Roadster launched into space

    Newly discovered asteroid turns out to be Tesla Roadster launched into space

    Elon Musk’s sense of humor is out of this world. 

    Seven years after the SpaceX CEO launched a Tesla Roadster into orbit, astronomers from the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts confused it with an asteroid earlier this month. 

    A day after the astronomers with the Minor Planet Center registered 2018 CN41, it was deleted on Jan. 3 when they revealed that it was in fact Musk’s roadster. 

    The center said on its website that 2018 CN41’s registry was deleted after “it was pointed out the orbit matches an artificial object, 2018-017A, Falcon Heavy Upper stage with the Tesla Roadster. The designation2018 CN41 is being deleted and will be listed as omitted.”

     DEBRIS FROM SPACEX STARSHIP STREAKS THROUGH THE SKY

    Seven years after the SpaceX CEO launched a Tesla Roadster into orbit, astronomers from the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts confused it with an asteroid earlier this month.  (SpaceX via Getty Images)

    SpaceX launched the Tesla Roadster on the maiden flight of SpaceX’s huge Falcon Heavy rocket in February 2018. 

    The roadster was expected to go into elliptical orbit around the sun, going a little beyond Mars and back toward Earth, but it apparently exceeded the orbit of Mars and kept going to the asteroid belt, according to Musk at the time. 

    SpaceX launch with Tesla Roadster

    SpaceX launched the Tesla Roadster on the maiden flight of SpaceX’s huge Falcon Heavy rocket in February 2018.  (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images))

    When the roadster was mistaken for an asteroid earlier this month, it was less than 150,000 miles from Earth, which is closer than the moon’s orbit, according to Astronomy Magazine, meaning that astronomers would want to monitor how close it gets to Earth. 

    POWERFUL WEBB TELESCOPE CAPTURES PHOTOS OF ONE OF THE EARLIEST SUPERNOVA EVER SEEN

    Center for Astrophysics (CfA) astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told Astronomy magazine that the mistake shows the issues with untracked objects. 

    Elon Musk

    Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched his former personal car into orbit at the time.  (Justin Sullivan)

    “Worst case, you spend a billion launching a space probe to study an asteroid and only realize it’s not an asteroid when you get there,” he said.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Fox News Digital has reached out to SpaceX for comment.