Musk to Reduce Government Engagement as Tesla Sales Decline
During an earnings call on Tuesday, Elon Musk announced that he will focus more on Tesla beginning next month.
TroibNews 
Elon Musk indicated during an earnings call on Tuesday that he intends to focus more on managing Tesla, the electric vehicle company, following a significant decline in sales and revenue in the first quarter of the year. This decline has raised widespread concerns regarding the effects of tariffs and Musk's involvement in reshaping government operations.
According to the company's announcement, Tesla experienced a 20 percent drop in total revenue from car sales and a staggering 71 percent decrease in net income in the first quarter of 2025.
During the call with investors, Musk stated, "starting next month I will be allocating more of my time to Tesla" while noting that he will “continue to spend a day or two on government matters” for as long as President Donald Trump desires.
Musk did not explicitly discuss whether his role in implementing significant cuts to the federal workforce and the deployment of his DOGE data teams affected Tesla's sales or influenced his decision to reduce his involvement with DOGE. However, he acknowledged that, "There's been some blowback for the time that I've been spending in government" with DOGE.
Tesla reported that its total revenue fell to $19.3 billion, representing a 9 percent decrease compared to the first quarter of 2024. This sharp decline was attributed, in part, to a decrease in vehicle deliveries and a reduction in vehicle pricing, as indicated by data released prior to the earnings call.
The company's operating income also experienced a significant drop, declining 66 percent to .4 billion.
Musk has openly criticized many of the tariffs imposed by Trump, yet he mentioned in the earnings call that Tesla is "the least affected car company with respect to tariffs, at least in most respects," due to its supply chains.
"I’ve been on the record many times saying that I believe lower tariffs are generally a good idea for prosperity, but this decision is fundamentally up to the elected representative of the people being the president of the United States. So you know, I'll continue to advocate for lower tariffs rather than higher tariffs, but that’s all I can do," Musk explained.
He defended his work, claiming that DOGE has "made a lot of progress in addressing waste and fraud," which he believes must be countered to "try to get the country back on the right track."
"And working together with President Trump and his administration — because a further shift, if America goes down, we all go down with it, including Tesla and everyone else."
Rohan Mehta for TROIB News
According to the company's announcement, Tesla experienced a 20 percent drop in total revenue from car sales and a staggering 71 percent decrease in net income in the first quarter of 2025.
During the call with investors, Musk stated, "starting next month I will be allocating more of my time to Tesla" while noting that he will “continue to spend a day or two on government matters” for as long as President Donald Trump desires.
Musk did not explicitly discuss whether his role in implementing significant cuts to the federal workforce and the deployment of his DOGE data teams affected Tesla's sales or influenced his decision to reduce his involvement with DOGE. However, he acknowledged that, "There's been some blowback for the time that I've been spending in government" with DOGE.
Tesla reported that its total revenue fell to $19.3 billion, representing a 9 percent decrease compared to the first quarter of 2024. This sharp decline was attributed, in part, to a decrease in vehicle deliveries and a reduction in vehicle pricing, as indicated by data released prior to the earnings call.
The company's operating income also experienced a significant drop, declining 66 percent to .4 billion.
Musk has openly criticized many of the tariffs imposed by Trump, yet he mentioned in the earnings call that Tesla is "the least affected car company with respect to tariffs, at least in most respects," due to its supply chains.
"I’ve been on the record many times saying that I believe lower tariffs are generally a good idea for prosperity, but this decision is fundamentally up to the elected representative of the people being the president of the United States. So you know, I'll continue to advocate for lower tariffs rather than higher tariffs, but that’s all I can do," Musk explained.
He defended his work, claiming that DOGE has "made a lot of progress in addressing waste and fraud," which he believes must be countered to "try to get the country back on the right track."
"And working together with President Trump and his administration — because a further shift, if America goes down, we all go down with it, including Tesla and everyone else."
Rohan Mehta for TROIB News
