The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 12th, 2025: Trump Says Violence Against Tesla Is Domestic Terrorism & US-Backed Kurdish Forces Merge With Syria's Islamist Government
12 Mar 2025
In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: First, President Donald Trump is coming to the aid of his chief political ally Elon Musk, threatening to label violence against Tesla dealerships as domestic terrorism. Later in the show, the Kurdish-led militia that controls northeastern Syria has agreed to merge its military and civilian institutions with the new Islamist government in Damascus, marking a major breakthrough for the country’s post-Assad leadership. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
It's Wednesday, the 12th of March. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, amid a series of destructive protests and a rash of vandalism aimed at Elon Musk's electric car company Tesla, President Trump said those engaging in such acts should be labeled as domestic terrorists.
Later in the show, the Kurdish-led militia that controls northeastern Syria has agreed to merge its military and civilian institutions with the new Islamist government in Damascus. That's marking a major breakthrough for the country's post-Assad leadership. But first, today's afternoon spotlight.
President Trump is coming to the aid of one of his key political allies, that would be Elon Musk, threatening to label violence against Tesla dealerships as domestic terrorism. The statement comes in the wake of a series of destructive protests and acts of vandalism targeting the electric car maker over Musk's role in leading the Department of Government Efficiency, otherwise known as DOGE.
DOGE, of course, has undertaken sweeping cuts to the federal government workforce. And apparently, the protesters feel that an appropriate response to downsizing a bloated government is to engage in violence and destruction of property.
Speaking from the White House lawn alongside Musk on Tuesday, after showing his support by buying a new Tesla Model S, Trump said the protesters were, quote, harming a great American company and that persons engaging in violence against Tesla or any American company would be caught and, quote, go through hell.
When asked by a reporter if his Department of Justice, the DOJ, would label the protesters as domestic terrorists, Trump said, quote, I will do that. Activists have been staging so-called Tesla takedown protests to voice their displeasure at Musk and his association with President Trump.
And while the demonstrators say most of these protests have been peaceful, of course, that's what they say, several have been marked by violent acts, and that's according to a report from ABC News. For example, last week, a man was arrested for attempted arson at a Tesla dealership in Colorado. after allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at vehicles and spray-painting Nazi cars on several Teslas.
Sounds peaceful, putting people inside the dealership in danger. Just one week earlier, a woman was arrested outside the same Tesla dealership after police caught her with explosives also sounds peaceful. One wonders if she had brightly colored hair.
In a similar incident in Massachusetts, seven Tesla charging stations sustained heavy fire-related damage last week after unknown vandals deliberately put the facilities to the torch. It is sounding increasingly peaceful.
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