In recent weeks, there's been rising consumer backlash against Tesla. The Wall Street Journal’s Becky Peterson explains how Elon Musk's role in Trump's government is impacting his businesses.The Washington Post’s Mary Beth Sheridan examines Trump’s relationship with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.A judge says Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil will remain in a Louisiana immigration jail for now. There's been widespread condemnation of his arrest by human rights lawyers and first amendment experts, but Democrats in Congress haven't fully rallied around his case.Plus, The White House withdraws its nomination of anti-vaccine activist Dave Weldon for director of the CDC, why a congressional hearing came to an abrupt end over gender identity, and the surprising outcome of Greenland’s election. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Full Episode
Good morning. It's Thursday, March 13th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, how Mexico's president has skillfully negotiated with Trump, reaction from Congress members to Trump's threats to arrest more student protesters, and the White House withdraws its nominee for director of the CDC.
But first, to Elon Musk and the growing backlash against him and his electric vehicle company, Tesla. Since President Trump took office, Musk and his Doge team have been the face of efforts to slash federal spending and cut tens of thousands of federal jobs.
In response, Tesla has faced blowback from consumers, some of whom are not happy about the large role Trump gave Musk in the federal government and how his decisions are impacting their lives. Wall Street Journal reporter Becky Peterson covers Musk and Tesla and told us about how consumer sentiment has shifted since Trump's inauguration.
We've seen people increasingly come out and protesting Tesla properties, whether that's showrooms, where there's been a number of peaceful protests across the country.
Some Tesla owners have been selling or trading in their vehicles because they no longer want to be affiliated with Musk and his politics. In other incidents, things have escalated.
There have been service centers that have been riddled with bullet holes. There's been some instances of arson at Tesla superchargers and examples of people having their Tesla spray fainted with graffitis, often swastikas or other references to Nazis.
President Trump on Tuesday vowed to label any violence against Tesla dealerships as economic terrorism, and he told reporters any perpetrators will, quote, go through hell. Tesla's also taken some serious hits in the stock market. It's been down every week since Musk went to Washington. Since mid-December, the company has lost more than half its value. That's around $800 billion in market cap.
And earlier this week, Tesla's stock experienced its biggest drop in value in a single day since 2020. It rebounded Tuesday, however, after President Trump's comments in support of the company, where he turned the White House driveway into a pop-up Tesla showroom of sorts, lined up several vehicles and made a personal promise to buy one.
We saw Donald Trump sit in one of the cars and he joked about how he doesn't get to drive very much anymore.
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