--- title: "Fury Erupts at State Department Plan to Buy $400 Million Worth of Elon Musk’s “Armored Teslas”" description: "The US State Department revealed plans to spend $400 million on \"Armored Tesla\" vehicles, a glaring conflict of interest." date: "2025-02-13" modified: "2025-02-13" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/state-department-armored-teslas-elon-musk" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "cybertruck" - "doge" - "elon musk" - "tesla" --- # Fury Erupts at State Department Plan to Buy $400 Million Worth of Elon Musk’s “Armored Teslas” ![The US State Department revealed plans to spend $400 million on "Armored Tesla" vehicles, a glaring conflict of interest.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* The US State Department revealed plans to spend $400 million on "Armored Tesla" vehicles — further stoking fears over the gargantuan conflict of interest of having the carmaker's CEO Elon Musk in control of government spending. A December version of the agency's procurement forecast included the line item, spanning five years, and starting in 2025, as [the *New York Times* reports](). That's after president Donald Trump was elected, but before he was sworn in. While it's unclear which exact vehicle was meant, it's not a stretch to assume it's about the Cybertruck, which Musk once [described]() as an "armored personnel carrier from the future." The news was met with sheer outrage. Despite Musk continuously accusing the government of "fraud" — evidence of [he still hasn't managed to produce]() — users on social media pointed out the clear injustice of a government insider suddenly receiving a huge government contract. "Pillaging Medicaid to pay for armored Teslas," CEO of *The Onion* Ben Collins wrote in a [Bluesky post](). Others took aim at Tesla's [infamously shoddy workmanship](). "Ah yes, who wouldn't want to be stuck inside an armored vehicle that automatically locks when its battery ignites," another user [wrote](). Many argued that spending this much money on armored EVs flew in the face of Musk and his DOGE Boys' alleged efforts to reduce wasteful spending. "This sounds like the kind of waste and abuse we wanted to stop," one X user [tweeted](). The optics were seemingly terrible enough for the government to quietly — and sloppily — erase the evidence, simply removing Tesla's name from the document, as [*Bloomberg* spotted this morning](). But instead of nixing the line item altogether, the $400 million procurement for "armored electric vehicles" still stands — and may well still end up going to Tesla. However improbably, Musk claimed he somehow didn't know anything about the situation. "I’m pretty sure Tesla isn’t getting $400M," he [tweeted]() after midnight on Thursday, an unusual attempt to distance himself from the news. "No one mentioned it to me, at least." The conflict of interest involved in Musk pillaging the [US Treasury](), the [Department of Education](), and [USAID](), among other departments with the help of his [questionable group of high school grads](), has been staggering to watch. Earlier this week, news emerged that Musk's SpaceX still has massive contracts with the US Department of Defense and NASA that still stand — while the Trump administration is expected to make [deep cuts to healthcare](). As [*Reuters* reports](), SpaceX has roughly $22 billion worth of government contracts. To be clear, the richest man in the world greatly profiting off cushy government contracts isn't anything new. SpaceX and Tesla have [greatly relied on them in the past](). But now that he has installed himself as the one who pulls the federal government's purse strings, the conflict of interest becomes immense. "There are lies, there are damn lies, and then there are lies on the level of Elmo saying he cares about government efficiency," University of St. Andrews professor of strategic studies Phillips O'Brien [tweeted](). "I bet the Doge gang will be all over this sleazy corruption," the Center for Economic and Policy Research's Dean Baker [wrote](). **More on Tesla:** *[Terrifying Footage Shows Cybertruck on Self-Driving Mode Swerve Into Oncoming Traffic]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()