The Media Treated Trump's Tesla Stunt Like a Car Show, Not Corruption
How media coverage normalized a blatant act of presidential cronyism.
If you somehow managed to miss it, Donald Trump turned the White House South Lawn into a Tesla showroom yesterday, complete with the president test-sitting vehicles and picking out a shiny Model S that he claimed he'd buy with a personal check.
The whole spectacle was exactly what you'd expect when a billionaire president with a long history of self-promotion teams up with his billionaire buddy who helped bankroll his campaign. It was cronyism in its purest form, taking place on the grounds of what's supposed to be the people's house.
But what really caught my attention was how the media largely played this off as just another wacky day in Trump-world rather than the ethical nightmare it actually represents.
NBC News went with: "Trump turns the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom." Well, that's technically accurate, but oddly detached from why this matters.
AP: "Trump selects a new Tesla on White House driveway to show support for Elon Musk." Again, just stating what happened without any critical framing.
NPR: "Trump buys a Tesla with Elon Musk in tow, at the White House." Reads like a society page blurb about some completely normal presidential activity.
The New York Times actually came closer with: "Trump, an E.V. Naysayer, Gives Tesla and Musk a White House Exhibition," at least acknowledging the hypocrisy of Trump's sudden embrace of electric vehicles.
The Washington Post's headline, "A new role for the South Lawn of Trump's White House: Tesla car lot," captures the absurdity but still treats it more like an oddity than a serious ethics concern.
Most of these stories did technically mention the ethical issues, but they're treated as an afterthought, a brief "oh by the way" several paragraphs deep after the main narrative has already been established.
NBC waited until paragraph 14 to note that "it is extremely rare for a senior government official, let alone a sitting president, to endorse a consumer product so explicitly." They mentioned Kellyanne Conway's past ethics warning but quickly moved on.
NPR managed to mention the ethical concerns in paragraph 4, but then immediately undermined it with a statement from a White House spokesperson by paragraph 6, and then pivoted to discussing Tesla's sales slump.
AP buried any ethical questions even deeper in their story, focusing more on the car's specs and Trump's praise of Musk than the unprecedented nature of using the White House for a corporate promotion.
What's fascinating is how much the media played right into exactly what Trump and Musk wanted: free advertising for Tesla. Even while mentioning ethical concerns, they were effectively doing Tesla's marketing work.
What happened: a sitting president used the White House grounds and the power of his office to promote a private company owned by his biggest donor and adviser.
As Richard Painter, former chief ethics lawyer for George W. Bush, told the Washington Post: "In the past, the president's name would never be used for any commercial purpose whatsoever." But that quote was buried in paragraph 25 of their story.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) got it right when he said, "Just because the corruption plays out in public doesn't mean it's not corruption." But his quote was also buried deep in most coverage.
The most glaring part is how the media dutifully reported Trump's talking points that Musk "shouldn't be penalized for being a patriot" and that a "very small group of people" is treating him unfairly. These statements went largely unchallenged in the framing, treating Tesla's stock drop as some kind of injustice rather than a market reaction to Musk's increasing political activities.
The truly concerning aspect is how easily the media has normalized this behavior. By treating it primarily as a quirky story about Trump buying a car rather than a serious breach of ethical norms, they're laying the groundwork for more of this behavior.
Will we see the White House lawn hosting a lineup of Trump-branded steaks next month? Maybe MyPillow guy Mike Lindell will get to showcase his products in the Rose Garden? Once you've crossed this line, where exactly do you stop?
The press has a responsibility to call this out for what it is, not to treat it as a novelty. But once again, in the rush to cover the spectacle, they've missed the substance of why this matters.
And that's precisely what Trump and Musk were counting on.
I've given up on mainstream outlets to hold anything this administration does to account. They're now mouthpieces for this regime for the price of access.
I can't imagine how much worse it will get before the editors wake up and realize they've all been played. Maybe starting a war? But I suppose we have The War on Terror as an example for which they all lined up for their patriotic duty to parrot those talking points.
I'm glad we have you and other journalists on Substack who actually call out the behavior for what it is. Thank you so much.
Disgusting cronyism, to be sure, but I'm trying to figure out how this even works as marketing. Millions of normal people refuse to buy Teslas now that Elon Musk has been exposed as a right-wing loon, so the answer is to have Donald Trump buy one? Oh, that'll make sales pick right up!
The bigger picture, I think, is that they're fully bubble-encased now, the only people who exist for them are their own loony MAGA-fans. And they don't understand these people either, because they'd never buy an electric car if you held a gun to their heads.
Also: "claimed he'd buy with a personal check." LOL