Tesla Shares Slide at Opening Bell as Musk-Trump Feud Escalates Over 'Big Beautiful Bill'

Tesla shares plunged 7% at the market open Tuesday, as a bitter political standoff between CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump rattled investor confidence and overshadowed early trading across U.S. equity benchmarks.

As of 9:31 a.m. ET, Tesla Inc. (TSLA) was trading at $295.41, down $22.25 from Monday’s close of $317.66. The sharp drop follows a flurry of inflammatory posts from Musk over the weekend, in which he attacked the latest tax-and-spending measure dubbed the “Big Beautiful Bill” and vowed to oppose lawmakers who supported it. President Trump responded by threatening to cut federal support for Musk’s businesses and even suggested Musk “head back home to South Africa”

Tesla’s opening slide dragged on broader sentiment, with the Nasdaq Composite off 90.60 points (-0.44%) to 20,279.1, the S&P 500 down 16.46 points (-0.27%) to 6,188.49, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 5.26 points (-0.01%) to 44,089.5.

Musk’s latest broadside included a viral image calling pro-bill lawmakers “LIARS” for supporting what he described as the “BIGGEST DEBT ceiling increase in HISTORY” and warned they’d be targeted in upcoming primaries. “If it’s the last thing I do on this Earth,” Musk wrote, “they will lose their primary next year”.

President Trump fired back on Truth Social: “Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate… Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa”.

The dispute has intensified investor concerns about Tesla’s exposure to federal subsidies and regulatory scrutiny under the Trump administration, particularly with respect to its autonomous vehicle ambitions and energy businesses.

In a Tuesday research note, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote, “We would expect the stock to be weak to kick off trading this morning as the Street will show concern that the Trump and Musk once BFF relationship now backfires and turns into a junior high school friendship gone bad into an enemy”. Ives reiterated an “OUTPERFORM” rating on Tesla and maintained a $500 price target, arguing that “at the end of the day Musk needs Trump and Trump needs Musk given the AI Arms Race going on between the US and China”.

Investors are also digesting the political and regulatory consequences of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which includes sweeping tax reforms and infrastructure permitting changes. The White House says the legislation will streamline the permitting process across multiple agencies, cutting environmental review delays and expediting development projects. But critics like Musk argue the bill massively expands government spending, undermining fiscal discipline and adding trillions to the national debt.

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