Tesla CEO Elon Musk listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on May 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
Shares of Tesla slid about 4% Thursday as CEO Elon Musk continued his relentless pressure on Congress to “KILL” President Donald Trump’s spending bill.
Musk in recent days has threatened to primary lawmakers who vote for the bill and called it a “disgusting abomination,” marking a significant shift in his comments about the administration.
The fall in shares comes as the EV maker saw a 22% rally in May despite weak sales numbers, with Musk wrapping his time as Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Shares are down more than 20% this year and well off the high of $488.54 reached on Dec. 18.
Since Musk’s special government employee term ended Friday, he’s appeared at odds with the Trump administration and gone on a full assault against the president’s signature tax-cut bill.
“One of the things about Elon is when he goes all in, he goes all in,” Walter Isaacson, who wrote a book about Musk, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Thursday.
“He is somebody who’s not exactly calibrated in these things and he is seriously upset,” Isaacson said.
The SpaceX and xAI CEO posted a stream of attacks against the Trump bill on X Wednesday.
NBC News reported that Musk had tried to convince Trump and other GOP members of the administration to change aspects of Trump’s bill which would curtail EV and residential solar tax credits that generate profits for Tesla.
The measure would also impose a new annual $250 fee on EV drivers.
Tesla is facing more fundamental problems with plummeting sales of its electric vehicles in major markets in Europe, and a declining brand reputation in the West.
Tesla is also under pressure to launch a long-delayed, driverless ride-hailing service this month in Austin.
While Musk has said that Tesla is already testing driverless vehicles in that market, its primary competitor Waymo is already operating a major commercial robotaxi service there in partnership with Uber.
Musk biographer Isaacson said Thursday that the tech centibillionaire was also irritated with members of the Trump administration who worked against the nomination of Jared Isaacman as head of space agency NASA.
“That, to Musk, was just infuriating because they were doing, they were going after Jared isaacman … to get at Musk,” Isaacson said Thursday.
Isaacman led two private spaceflights through Musk’s SpaceX, in 2021 and 2024, commanding crews on trips around the Earth. His payment tech company Shift4 said in financial filings that as of June 30, 2021, it had invested $27.5 million in SpaceX as well.
