‘I’m pretty sure Tesla isn’t getting $400M. No one mentioned it to me, at least,’ Musk swiped on X. Elon Musk has denied that the U.S. government is planning on purchasing $400 million worth of Tesla Cybertrucks. The billionaire jumped on X to deny the allegations, as it was widely reported Wednesday that the Trump administration intended to spend $400 million on "armored” Tesla electric vehicles in one of the State Department’s biggest contracts of 2025.
![[Musk denies the allegation that the U.S. State Department intended to hand Tesla Inc. $400 million]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/02/13/11/26/Screenshot-2025-02-13-at-10-54-33.png)
In the December version of the document, the item was mentioned as an “Armored Tesla”. At the time of writing, the company is no longer named. However, Musk’s half-hearted response left room for speculation as while he denied Tesla would receive $400 million, he failed to outright deny that his company would receive anything at all. In the procurement document, the listing for “Armored Electric Vehicles” is named as a new requirement under a five-year contract at an estimated cost of between $100 and $500 million.
The omission emerged as the world’s richest man, Musk, was found to still be receiving multi-million dollar contract payouts from the U.S. government for his rocket company, SpaceX, while his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team promises to gut government spending. Jared Holt, a researcher at London’s Institute for Strategic Dialogue, commented on the matter stating: “Musk convinced MAGA he's fighting to save their precious taxpayer dollars. Meanwhile, he's teed up to win a $400 million contract making armored Tesla cars for the State Department. No talk of cutting that one, oddly enough!”.
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