Trump labels Tesla attacks domestic terrorism, threatens protesters with ‘hell’

Violence against Tesla dealerships will be labelled domestic terrorism and perpetrators will “go through hell”, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday in a show of support for the electric carmaker’s chief, his ally Elon Musk.

Shares of the carmaker closed nearly 4 per cent higher on Tuesday, rebounding from the biggest one-day fall in four-and-a half years the previous day, after the president appeared with Musk at the White House to select a new Tesla for his staff to use.

Activists have lately staged so-called Tesla Takedown protests to voice displeasure over Musk’s role in sweeping cuts to the federal workforce at the behest of Trump and cancellation of contracts that fund humanitarian programmes around the world.

Musk, the world’s richest person, has been spearheading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge.

“They’re harming a great American company,” Trump said at the White House, referring to the demonstrators, alongside Musk who was wearing a black “Make America Great Again” baseball cap. Nearby, a number of Tesla vehicles were lined up on the driveway between the mansion and the south lawn.