Coral Davenport

Trump talks about how, you know, if the price of oil goes down, if the price of gasoline goes down, you know, the pitches like this makes life easier for everyday Americans. And, you know, Trump's nominee for treasury secretary said during his confirmation hearing that a core part of his plan is lowering inflation and says that lowering gas prices is a central part of that effort.

Sure. And this is a huge piece of Trump's plan, just in the same way that it was a huge part of Biden's legacy. Burning gasoline and oil from vehicles are the number one contributor to climate change. And of course, vehicles are the main consumer of oil. Right.

Sure. And this is a huge piece of Trump's plan, just in the same way that it was a huge part of Biden's legacy. Burning gasoline and oil from vehicles are the number one contributor to climate change. And of course, vehicles are the main consumer of oil. Right.

So in these day one executive orders, Trump is focused on two of the biggest policies that Biden rolled out to advance electric vehicle adaptation in the U.S. The first is a giant law that was passed in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act. That included billions of dollars of tax credits and tax incentives for EVs. This is consumer tax credit.

So in these day one executive orders, Trump is focused on two of the biggest policies that Biden rolled out to advance electric vehicle adaptation in the U.S. The first is a giant law that was passed in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act. That included billions of dollars of tax credits and tax incentives for EVs. This is consumer tax credit.

So individual purchasers of EVs could get $7,500 tax credits. Meaning people buying cars. People buying cars. If you want to buy an electric vehicle, you can get up to $7,500 written off on your taxes, courtesy of Biden's law. It also guided billions of dollars directly to automakers so they can get a lot of tax credits for building and selling cleaner cars.

So individual purchasers of EVs could get $7,500 tax credits. Meaning people buying cars. People buying cars. If you want to buy an electric vehicle, you can get up to $7,500 written off on your taxes, courtesy of Biden's law. It also guided billions of dollars directly to automakers so they can get a lot of tax credits for building and selling cleaner cars.

And then on the other end, he put in place this regulation on the car companies that compels them to... Lower the fossil fuel emissions associated with their auto sales such that by 2032, more than half the new cars sold in the United States would pretty much have to be all EVs. Right now, about 10 percent of new cars sold in the United States are electric vehicles.

And then on the other end, he put in place this regulation on the car companies that compels them to... Lower the fossil fuel emissions associated with their auto sales such that by 2032, more than half the new cars sold in the United States would pretty much have to be all EVs. Right now, about 10 percent of new cars sold in the United States are electric vehicles.

This would get us to over 50 percent. Wow. And Trump hated this. He went after it so hard. And there were a couple of reasons for this. One, he went after it because the oil producers, the oil companies hated it because it's really taking away a gigantic market for their product.

This would get us to over 50 percent. Wow. And Trump hated this. He went after it so hard. And there were a couple of reasons for this. One, he went after it because the oil producers, the oil companies hated it because it's really taking away a gigantic market for their product.

But Trump, in a very savvy way, kind of tapped into this idea that this is the government telling you what you can drive. Hmm. And that really resonated. He would say the Biden administration is going to take away your choice for what you're going to drive. And this really was a very potent political argument. And I think it resonated deeply with his base and beyond.

But Trump, in a very savvy way, kind of tapped into this idea that this is the government telling you what you can drive. Hmm. And that really resonated. He would say the Biden administration is going to take away your choice for what you're going to drive. And this really was a very potent political argument. And I think it resonated deeply with his base and beyond.

And so that's the biggest piece that we saw Trump talking about rolling back.

And so that's the biggest piece that we saw Trump talking about rolling back.

And it's so fascinating because also like Tesla could get the tax credits. Tesla has been a big beneficiary of all of these programs. However, Tesla is a really interesting company because unlike the rest of the U.S. auto industry, of course, all it makes is EVs and it's doing really well. A lot of these programs are really designed to help boost efficiency.

And it's so fascinating because also like Tesla could get the tax credits. Tesla has been a big beneficiary of all of these programs. However, Tesla is a really interesting company because unlike the rest of the U.S. auto industry, of course, all it makes is EVs and it's doing really well. A lot of these programs are really designed to help boost efficiency.

the legacy auto companies to make that transition, which is very expensive. They have to invest in new R&D. They still have these old product lines. How do they balance it and build new things? And so none of that really applies to Tesla. And so what Musk has said on earnings calls to his shareholders, essentially, if all that stuff goes away, it will ding Tesla.

the legacy auto companies to make that transition, which is very expensive. They have to invest in new R&D. They still have these old product lines. How do they balance it and build new things? And so none of that really applies to Tesla. And so what Musk has said on earnings calls to his shareholders, essentially, if all that stuff goes away, it will ding Tesla.

But it will hurt the competition so much more because that Tesla will come out much further ahead. Interesting. And so, in fact, Musk has made plain that he is just fine with rolling all that stuff back because, you know, if the competitors are not getting all that government help, they're really going to struggle with this transition and consumers will be forced to go to Tesla.