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Trump Fanboy Musk 'Finds Out' With Tesla 2024 Sales Slump

Tesla reported on Thursday that 2024 saw the Austin, Texas-based car company’s first annual decline in sales in at least 12 years. The decline coincided with the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, endorsing and funding Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and becoming a major player within the Republican Party.

Tesla said that in 2024 it delivered 1.79 million cars, which was 1.1 percent below the 1.81 million cars the company sold in 2023. Back in 2022, Tesla confidently predicted that the company would grow 50 percent each year for the next few years. That didn’t happen as Musk went full MAGA.

Before 2024, Musk had shown some signs of conservatism. But his extremism ramped up considerably as the presidential election ramped up and he attacked the so-called “woke mind virus,” blaming leftist ideas for his child’s gender transition.

Following his purchase of Twitter and rebranding the social media platform as “X,” Musk reinstated Trump’s account, which had been deactivated by the previous management after the sore loser used it to instigate the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Musk also reactivated the account of right-wing conspiracy theorist and Trump megafan Alex Jones.

In October, Musk made his partisanship official by endorsing Trump and appearing with him at a rally in Pennsylvania.

“President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America,” Musk said, after wildly jumping around on stage.

Musk bankrolled a super PAC supporting Trump’s campaign and spent at least $250 million to help his Republican ally win the election—in addition to allowing pro-Trump election misinformation to circulate widely on his social media network.

Following his election win, Trump named Musk as co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency, which is not a government agency but an outside watchdog group pushing to cut government spending by $2 trillion.

Even as Musk was openly embracing the Republican Party and its conservative agenda, polling showed Democrats—who have traditionally supported clean energy products like Tesla’s electric cars—turning away from the company. An analysis from the firm CivicScience released in July found that Tesla’s favorability dropped to 16% among Democrats, when it had been at 39% in January 2024.

“He completely alienated most of his buying base,” investor Mark Spiegel told Yahoo! Finance when the survey was released.

After Trump won, many X users—including journalists, who have been the lifeblood of the site—began leaving the platform in droves.

Trump has already hinted at making policy moves friendly to Musk, with his transition team announcing that he favors adopting a recommendation that would scrap federal crash-reporting requirements for self-driving cars (from companies like Tesla). But the fledgling bromance has not been smooth.

There have been grumblings from Trump allies that Musk is overstepping his role and acting as a co-president with Trump. The South African immigrant was also recently embroiled in a very public fight with anti-immigrant Trump supporters over his position in favor of H-1B visas for tech workers.

Musk’s chosen candidate will soon be president and the multibillionaire clearly has Trump’s ear. But Tesla’s growing problems—and emerging fractures within the MAGA coalition—could be an early warning sign for the richest man in the world.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Why DeSantis Can’t Snatch Disney’s Special Tax District

For 55 years, Disney had a special tax/business arrangement in Florida. But that arrangement has been ended by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was determined to get back at Disney for voicing its opposition to the controversial Parental Rights in Education Act of 2022, a.k.a. the “Don’t Say Gay” law. And according to Miami Herald reporter Mary Ellen Klas, Disney addressed its investors in a statement posted on April 21.

Disney, Klas reports, has told its investors “that it would continue to go about business as usual.”

Klas explains, “The statement, posted on the website of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on April 21 by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, is the only public statement Disney has supplied since lawmakers unleashed their fury over the company’s vocal opposition to the Parental Rights in Education law, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill. The statement, first reported by WESH 2, quotes the statute, which says, in part, that the ‘State of Florida pledges.... it will not limit or alter the rights of the District.... until all such bonds together with interest thereon.... are fully met and discharged.’”

In its April 21 statement, Disney writes, “In light of the State of Florida’s pledge to the District’s bondholders, Reedy Creek expects to explore its options while continuing its present operations, including levying and collecting its ad valorem taxes and collecting its utility revenues, paying debt service on its ad valorem tax bonds and utility revenue bonds, complying with its bond covenants and operating and maintaining its properties.’’

Attorney Jake Schumer has said that the State of Florida has a contractual obligation not to interfere with the Reedy Creek Improvement District until the bond debt is paid off. Schumer told the Herald that the State of Florida “simply can’t go forward under the contract clause” and “would have to pass something to address this.”

According to Klas, Scott Randolph — tax collector for Orange County, Florida — “agrees with Schumer that the only way for the state to dissolve Disney’s special district is for the debt to be assumed by the county government.”

Randolph told the Herald, “Orange County gets Reedy Creek’s assets, debts and obligations…. Unless they want to cut services and cut spending elsewhere, they’re going to have to find a way to absorb $163 million.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

'Slightly Better Than Expected': Experts Say Core Inflation Now Slowing

The monthly Consumer Price Index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was released Tuesday morning, and while inflation continues to rise some economists appear pleased, with one stating the report is “slightly better than anticipated.”

Overall, the annual rate of inflation is 8.5 percent, but removing food and energy, prices are up 6.5 percent annually.

Headline CPI rose +1.2% in March, for a year-ended rate of 8.5%.\n\nCore inflation slightly lower than anticipated, rising by only 0.3%, yielding a year-ended rate of 6.5%.\n\nObviously inflation is higher than we hope. But this report is slightly better than anticipated.
— Justin Wolfers (@Justin Wolfers) 1649766726

Gas prices are a big part of the inflation rate. CNN’s cable reporting calls the current report a “rearview mirror” look, given that gas prices are coming down. They add some economists are hoping the peak of the inflation has been reached. They also note that the U.S. does not rely much on oil from Russia, so in other countries, inflation is worse.

"Core" (ex- food and energy) prices were up 0.3% in March, a bit slower than the 0.5% growth in February. That deceleration should please the Fed.
— Ben Casselman (@Ben Casselman) 1649766712

“Food prices are up 8.8% over the past year. Energy prices are up 32%, including 11% in March alone — reflecting the spike in energy prices associated with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” The New York Times’ Ben Casselman notes.

Casselman points to Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine for food price increases:

We've also seen a big jump in food prices, which is again partly the result of the war in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine are both major global food producers.pic.twitter.com/7FiM4elycO
— Ben Casselman (@Ben Casselman) 1649767459

And he sees some good news: “Headline inflation accelerated in March, but we all knew that would happen given gas prices. The bigger surprise is the slowdown in ‘core’ inflation.”

There’s still plenty to be concerned about. Casselman says this is “the fastest year-over-year inflation since 1981.”

Meanwhile, oil companies – not the President – set the price of gas at the pump and other energy products, and are under no obligation to price gouge, which is illegal in most states during a declared state of emergency, such as war, natural disasters, or COVID-19.

University of Michigan economist and public policy professor Justin Wolfers:

One key problem right now is that the most salient prices are rising at rapid rates. Prices for food at home (the grocery store, basically) rose 10% over the year. Gas rose 48%.\n\nWhile these prices are salient, they collectively only account for 12% of spending.
— Justin Wolfers (@Justin Wolfers) 1649766910

And Wolfers throws a challenge to the mainstream media, which is generally focused on only bad news:

Lotta headlines today about "inflation at 40-year high." We have a nice test of whether the media is symmetrically interested in good news because in the next month or so, it's likely that unemployment will hit a 50-year low. Will this attract as many breathless headlines?
— Justin Wolfers (@Justin Wolfers) 1649768280

Printed with permission from Alternet.

Musk To Join Twitter Board, Promises Change

April 5 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) said on Tuesday it will offer Tesla boss and entrepreneur Elon Musk a seat on its board of directors, a position he plans to use to bring about significant improvements at the social media site.

The move came after Musk disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday that he had amassed a 9.2% stake in Twitter, making him its largest shareholder.

Beyond the promise of big change, Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) CEO, who often chooses unconventional paths, has provided little detail.

Even so, Musk will be involved in strategic decisions, including the direction of Twitter's Bluesky project and the addition of an edit button, according to a source familiar with the situation.

He will not have a say on the platform's moderation, what speech gets banned or whose accounts get restored, the source said - a policy that applies to all board members.

Twitter shares were up more than 4% in midday trading, after closing up over 27% on Monday.

Musk's appointment, however, will potentially block chances of a takeover bid because the billionaire cannot own more than 14.9% of Twitter's stock either as an individual shareholder or as a member of a group as long as he is on the company's board.

The disclosure of his stake on Monday stoked widespread speculation that varied from a full takeover of the platform to taking an active position.

Musk has not indicated an interest in acquiring the company, the source said.

TWITTER CEO 'EXCITED'

Elon Musk

Twitter executives tweeted out congratulations after the announcement. There is hope that his presence can revive the platform that has struggled to attract users and possibly stir interest from retail investors.

"I'm excited to share that we're appointing @elonmusk to our board," Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet. "He's both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term."

In response, Musk tweeted: "Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months."

Musk reached out to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and CEO Agrawal shortly after he built his stake on March 14, telling them he wanted to join the board, according to a source familiar with the situation.

They were eager to bring him on board, believing he could bring buzz to the platform as well as good ideas, the source said.

Bluesky is a company funded by Twitter to develop a new operating standard for social media. The company is working on building an open protocol that would allow different social media companies to operate together.

Musk, who calls himself a free-speech absolutist, has been critical of the social media platform and its policies, and recently ran a Twitter poll asking users if they believed the platform adheres to the principle of free speech.

After disclosing his stake on Monday, Musk put out another poll on Twitter asking users if they want an edit button, a long-awaited feature on which the social media platform has been working.

NERVOUSNESS

Elon Musk

"News that he is taking a board position will lead to expectations that he wants, and will have, greater involvement in decision making at the social network," said Susannah Streeter, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"This may lead to some nervousness about Mr Musk getting too much influence about the way Twitter is run, with a view to bolstering his own personal brand and that of his companies."

Musk, a prolific user of Twitter, has made a number of announcements to his over 80 million followers on the social media platform.

His board term expires at Twitter's 2024 annual meeting of stockholders, the company said.

The world's richest man will also be a board member of Endeavor Group Holdings Inc (EDR.N), owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, until June 30. In 2018 he exited the board of tech nonprofit OpenAI, which he cofounded.

His new role as a board member at Twitter could be a further distraction from work at Tesla. He is also the founder and CEO of SpaceX, and leads brain-chip startup Neuralink and tunneling venture the Boring Company.

He said in January that Tesla will not launch a $25,000 electric car, saying "we have ... too much on our plate, frankly." Tesla needs to ramp up production at its new factories in Berlin and Texas and boost production at its existing ones despite supply-chain disruptions.

Printed with permission from Reuters.

Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru Additional reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru, Svea Herbst in Boston, Hyun Joo Jin in San Francisco and Greg Roumeliotis in New York Writing by Anna Driver Editing by Anil D'Silva and Matthew Lewis

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The National Memo is a political newsletter and website that combines the spirit of investigative journalism with new technology and ideas. We cover campaigns, elections, the White House, Congress, and the world with a fresh outlook. Our own journalism — as well as our selections of the smartest stories available every day — reflects a clear and strong perspective, without the kind of propaganda, ultra-partisanship and overwrought ideology that burden so much of our political discourse.
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Smart. Sharp. Funny. Fearless

Start your day with The National Memo Newsletter

Trump Fanboy Musk 'Finds Out' With Tesla 2024 Sales Slump

Why DeSantis Can’t Snatch Disney’s Special Tax District

'Slightly Better Than Expected': Experts Say Core Inflation Now Slowing

Casselman points to Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine for food price increases:

University of Michigan economist and public policy professor Justin Wolfers:

And Wolfers throws a challenge to the mainstream media, which is generally focused on only bad news:

TWITTER CEO 'EXCITED'

NERVOUSNESS

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