--- title: "Trump Was Reading Notes for His Tesla Sales Pitch and a Photographer Got a Shot of Them" description: "A photo clearly shows Donald Trump's speech notes, which read like a blatant sales pitch for Elon Musk's Tesla." date: "2025-03-12" modified: "2025-03-12" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/trump-notes-tesla-sales-pitch" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" tags: - "donald trump" - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "trump" --- # Trump Was Reading Notes for His Tesla Sales Pitch and a Photographer Got a Shot of Them ![A photo clearly shows Donald Trump's speech notes, which read like a blatant sales pitch for Elon Musk's Tesla.]() *\Image: Andrew Harnik via Getty\* As a "show of confidence" in his buddy Elon Musk, president Donald Trump on Tuesday [turned the White House lawn into a Tesla advertisement]() in all but name. The day before, Trump had [promised]() that he'd immediately buy a brand new Tesla to support Musk, whose automaker is currently facing [falling sales]() and a [plunging stock price](). The resulting spectacle was a bizarre and alarming mingling of the official powers of public office with naked salesmanship. Here was a sitting president plugging the cars made by his close confidante and biggest donor, who bankrolled his campaign to the tune of an [astonishing ]()[$288 million](). In short, it exuded that brand of sleaziness unique to American car dealerships. And nothing exemplifies this more than Trump's speech notes from the event, which a photographer [managed to capture clearly](). "Teslas can be purchased as low as $299/month or $35k," reads one part of the handwritten notes, indistinguishable from what you'd hear from the booming narrator of a car commercial. https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1899557134402019359 The notes also lists the prices of Tesla's fleet when bought with the Full Self-Driving mode activated, including like the Model X (Silver) for $112,490 and the Cybertruck (Gray), for $114,000 — price tags firmly out of reach for many of America's working class. Meanwhile, the cheapest listed vehicle, the Model Y (Red), cost $59,990. The relationship between Trump and Musk, both showy businessmen by trade and the latter a conflict of interest incarnate now that he's working for the White House, has been heavily scrutinized since its inception. Much attention has been paid to Musk's role in slashing federal spending — and the size of the federal workforce — through his Department of Government Efficiency, which is where the conflict of interests come in: his companies like SpaceX receive tens of billions of dollars in government contracts. But that's backroom stuff. In his comments Tuesday, Trump didn't even bother to dress up his intent in the typical rhetoric of protecting American industry. Instead, the president [made it clear]() that the reason he was buying from the electric vehicle manufacturer was "as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk," who he alleged was under attack by "Radical Left Lunatics" that are "illegally" boycotting Tesla. With his Tesla car show, Trump has brought his shady ties with a fellow billionaire out into the open even more clearly than before, producing surreal moments from the aging president as he comes face to face with newfangled tech. "The one I like is that one," Trump told the cameras, pointing at a red Model S, as [quoted by the ]()[*New York Times*](). "And I want that same color." "Everything's computer!" he exclaimed after getting behind the wheel. **More on the president:** *[Trump's Failing Truth Social Was Doing Much Better Under Biden]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()