Donald Trump Buys New Tesla Car, Says Didn’t Ask Elon Musk For Discount

US President Donald Trump bought a shiny red Tesla with the company’s CEO Elon Musk by his side, who helped the Republican leader pick the car on the White House driveway on Tuesday. The car was bought in a show of support for Musk’s electric vehicle company, which is facing a blowback because of the Tesla CEO’s work to advance the President’s political agenda.

“Wow, that’s beautiful,” Trump said as he eased his way into the driver’s seat of a Model X.

Musk, who got in on the passenger seat, joked about “giving the Secret Service a heart attack” as they talked about how to start a vehicle that can reach 95 kilometres per hour in a few seconds. However, Trump did not test drive the car since he is not permitted to drive, but said that he will leave it at the White House so his staff can drive it.

According to the US President, he bought the car – worth around $80,000 – at the full price, without any discount.

“Musk would give me a discount, but if I do a discount, they’re gonna say, Oh, I got benefits,” he said.

The US President cited two key reasons for buying Tesla – one, it’s a great product, and another, “Elon Musk has devoted his energy and his life to doing this and I think he has been treated very unfairly”.

“When I saw what was happening, I said that I want to buy a Tesla, and we just went to the front. He (Elon Musk) had four beautiful cars there, and I bought one in front of the press. It was a very public purchase, and they’re beautiful and do a great job,” he said.

Calling Musk a “patriot”, Trump said, “He’s done a great job…It’s not that he’s a Republican… Sometimes, I’m not even sure what he is in terms of his philosophy, but he’s a great guy.”