Trump takes aim at Musk over EV subsidies, suggests Tesla would collapse without govt support
Washington, DC: US President Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on Tesla CEO Elon Musk, alleging that Musk’s businesses would not survive without federal subsidies. Trump suggested that Musk would "probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa" if government support was withdrawn.
Sharing a statement on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump reiterated his opposition to the electric vehicle (EV) mandate, calling it “ridiculous.” He said that while electric cars are acceptable, Americans should not be forced to buy them. He also called on the Department of Government Efficiency to scrutinise subsidies granted to Musk.
"Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate… Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one," Trump wrote.
He further alleged that Musk may have received “more subsidies than any human being in history” and that removing such support could result in the end of Tesla’s operations, SpaceX launches, and satellite projects.
The remarks come in response to Musk’s recent criticism of Trump's "big, beautiful bill," which he said worsens the national debt. In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Musk labelled the bill as evidence of a “one-party country” and called for the formation of a new political party. Referring to the debt ceiling hike, he called the Republican Party the “Porky Pig Party” and said the legislation was “political suicide” for the GOP.
Musk and Trump have had a tense relationship in recent years. Musk previously left the Trump administration and later called for Trump’s impeachment, citing alleged connections to Jeffrey Epstein’s case files.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
