Elon Musk’s Statements During Tesla’s Earnings Call
Elon Musk stated during Tesla’s earnings call: “The main construction work for DOGE has been completed, and starting next month, I will dedicate more time to Tesla.”
Musk later emphasized on X that he is merely reducing his working hours on DOGE and not stepping away from it. He indicated that as long as it is helpful and Trump is willing, he will still spend one to two days a week dealing with government-related matters in the future. Following Musk’s announcement of scaling back his role in DOGE, Tesla’s stock price rose approximately 5% in after-hours trading.
This move comes at a time when Tesla has released disappointing quarterly earnings. Since Musk began serving as an advisor to the Trump administration, Tesla has faced numerous challenges, with its stock price dropping 44% over the past year and first-quarter sales falling significantly short of market expectations. Musk candidly admitted that during his leadership of DOGE, he maintained operations under “very difficult circumstances.”
Meanwhile, when discussing President Trump’s tariff policies, Musk expressed his personal dislike for high tariffs or unpredictable tariff policies, but stated that the decision to implement them ultimately rests with the President of the United States: “I will provide advice to the President, and he will listen, but the final decision is his. I have publicly stated multiple times that I support lower tariffs and a predictable tariff structure, and I advocate for free trade.”
Musk also acknowledged that Tesla is particularly affected by the U.S.-China trade war, as the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries used in the company’s electric vehicles are primarily sourced from China. Although Tesla is currently setting up related production facilities in the U.S. and has some local capacity, it is still far from meeting overall demand.
“We are also working to find non-Chinese suppliers to fill the supply chain gap, but this takes time.”
