Trump Asserts He Doesn’t Intend To ‘Destroy’ Elon Musk’s Companies, Wants US Firms To ‘Thrive’

President Donald Trump on Thursday asserted that he does not intend to ‘destroy’ Elon Musk’s companies by revoking government subsidies, saying instead that he wants all U.S. businesses to “thrive like never before.”

Musk is currently at the helm of Tesla (TSLA), SpaceX, and xAI.

Tesla’s stock, the only publicly traded company among the names, was down as much as 8% in morning trade after the company reported its second-quarter results after the bell on Wednesday. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Tesla dipped to ‘bearish’ from ‘bullish’ territory over the past day, with an uptick in chatter to ‘high’ from ‘low’ levels.

“Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elon’s companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large-scale subsidies he receives from the U.S. Government. This is not so!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE.”

Musk and Trump were at the center of a very public spat earlier this month, in which Musk said he would launch his political party and Trump hit back, saying that Musk was a “train wreck.”

Amid the back-and-forth banter on social networks, Trump has specifically singled out Musk’s advocacy of electric vehicle mandates. He had claimed that Musk was “very upset that the EV mandate is going to be terminated,” and pointed to his displeasure with Trump’s signature tax and spending bill that eliminates EV subsidies.

He threatened to review federal subsidies for Musk’s companies and suggested the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) should examine Musk’s reliance on government funds, even hinting at Musk's immigration status.

It was also recently reported that Trump’s Golden Dome project is considering other companies beyond SpaceX, such as Amazon (AMZN) and Kuiper, to diversify the pool of providers.

Tesla’s stock has fallen more than 21% this year so far and gained a little over 35% in the past 12 months.

Read also: Tron Stock Slides In Nasdaq Debut After Reverse Merger With SRM

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