Democrats bounced on president Donald Trump’s Purchase of a red Tesla on Tuesday – although former President Joe Biden paraded a Jeep Wrangler in the White House in 2021 in the same way.
Trump showed off the vehicle on the South Lawn of the White House with SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who also leads the newly established department of Government Efficiency (Doge), while the Tesla shares clashed earlier this week. The stock price rose after the White House event.
Democrats have determined the move and the Democratic conference campaign committee labeled the Trump government the ‘most corrupt administration in American history’.
But Biden also carried out a similar event in the White House in August 2021, when he rode an electric Jeep Wrangler at the Whouthuis South Lawn as part of a meeting with top managers of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.
That event corresponded to Biden who signed an executive order with regard to zero emission vehicles that are made in the US to make half of its vehicle production at the end of the decade.
Trump buys Red Tesla Model S in the White House next to Elon Musk: “I like to sign a check!”
President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speak with reporters in the vicinity of a Red Model’s Tesla vehicle on the South Lawn of the White House, 11 March 2025, in Washington. (Pool via the Associated Press)
Musk and Tesla were not invited to the Electic Vehicle Event of Biden 2021. Musk had called the Biden administration in a post on X at that time and said, “Yes, it seems strange that Tesla was not invited.”
The moment the White House had excluded at the time, the biggest maker of electric vehicles in the US postponed, the press secretary Jen Psaki of the White House, suggested that Tesla would receive an invitation for future events.
“Well, we naturally welcome the efforts of car manufacturers who recognize the potential of a future future vehicle and supporting efforts that will help achieve the President’s goal, and certainly Tesla is one of those companies,” Psaki said in August 2021. “I would not expect this to be the last time we are talking about clean cars and the switch to electric vehicles, and we look forward to having a series of partners in that effort.”
In the meantime, the refusal of the Biden to meet Musk as the catalyst before the departure of Musk from the Democratic Party, according to the Wall Street Journal. The magazine reported in July 2024 that Musk voted for Biden in 2020 and had contacted the White House of Biden after his inauguration, but the White House had refused to talk to him.
The Journal reported that Biden’s White House had hesitated to take up the offer because of the concern that the ties with him would disrupt the United Auto Workers (UAW) Union, because Tesla is the only non-union car maker in the US
Psaki said that it had selected the “three largest employers of the United Auto Workers for the electic vehicle event, so I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.”
Tesla Rebounds After Trump defends Musk, EVs brings to the White House
The then white house secretary Jen Psaki indicated that Tesla would be invited to other electric vehicle events in the future. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)
Others criticized Trump for his Tuesday Tesla show. “I am sure that all people who lose their retirement, jobs and health care because of Trump are happy to see that the White House has become a car dealer for the richest man in the world,” said Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, in an X -post.
Breck Dumma from FOX Business has contributed to this report.
