State Department Revises Plan to Buy Armored Teslas
A department procurement forecast for 2025 detailed purchases the agency expected to make, including $400 million for armored Tesla vehicles. The document did not specify which Tesla model, but the electric Cybertruck, which has a body of high-strength stainless steel, would be the most suitable.
Later on Wednesday, a different version of the procurement document appeared online. It referred to 'armored electric vehicles,' omitting any mention of Tesla.
Mr. Musk spent more than $250 million to help elect Mr. Trump, who then appointed him as the leader of a cost-cutting initiative that's been called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Plans to spend $400 million on Tesla pickups raised eyebrows given that Mr. Musk has been posting almost hourly on X, the social media site he owns, about wasteful government spending.
Tesla and the State Department did not respond to requests for comment. On X, Mr. Musk shared a post from a supporter that said a report on the topic by Rachel Maddow of MSNBC was a 'hit piece.'
Mr. Musk is already a major government contractor. Companies he owns or controls have secured $13 billion in federal contracts over the past five years. SpaceX, the rocket company he founded, collects most of that money and is one of the biggest government contractors.
The State Department procurement forecast was published in December, after Mr. Trump won the election but before he took office. Plans to purchase Cybertrucks were reported earlier on Wednesday by Drop Site News.
Tesla would not have collected all of the $400 million order. Some of the money would have gone to firms that upgrade the vehicles to withstand attacks, such as Armormax, a company in Ogden, Utah.
Justin Johnson, operations manager at Armormax, acknowledged in a brief telephone interview on Wednesday that there had been interest in the company's product from the Trump administration, but said he was not authorized to comment further.
The plan to purchase armored electric vehicles, whether Teslas or another make, is a departure for the Trump administration. Among Mr. Trump's first actions as president were executive orders calling for the removal of Biden-era incentives and regulations that promoted electric vehicles.
The Cybertruck remains a likely choice for any government agency looking for rugged electric vehicles. Mr. Musk has portrayed the vehicle, with its stainless steel body, as 'apocalypse-ready,' although some people have posted videos on social media that appear to show the vehicle struggling in difficult conditions like snow.
Other vehicles might also match the specifications of the order, such as General Motors' GMC Hummer pickup and sport-utility vehicle or the electric version of the Cadillac Escalade. G.M. already has a unit that sells armored and rugged versions of its vehicles to the government.
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