President Trump and Elon Musk’s falling out over the Big Beautiful Bill has continued into a second day of insults and criticism. In response, Trump might sell the red Tesla Model S he bought earlier this year, a senior administration official tells CBS News. But the duo’s drama and Musk himself might mean that EV is worth much less than it was just a few months back.
The March 12 purchase was intended as a “show of confidence and support for Elon Musk” after Tesla dealerships and cars were vandalized in protest of Musk’s DOGE activity, his close ties to Trump, and support of far-right political parties in Germany. Staff lined up several Teslas outside the White House for an event that many likened to a TV commercial.
As president, Trump can’t drive his own car around town, so the Tesla he purchased remains at the White House for staff to use, CBS notes. But it now seems that he’s having some buyer’s remorse and wants to ditch the EV.
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What’s Your Model S Worth Right Now?
Used vehicle marketplace tool Car Gurus says a Tesla Model S would have sold for an average price of $31,808 on March 12. Since then, Model S cars have dropped in value by 6.26%, with the average price hitting $29,823.
The version Trump bought likely cost around $80,000, which means a drop of 6.26% is a loss of just over $5,000 since his purchase.
Of course, Trump’s ownership of the vehicle will likely add to its value if he decides to sell it. But for the average driver looking to swap their Tesla for another EV, the numbers show how much the value of Tesla’s used cars has dropped over the last three months.
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In that same time frame, Car Gurus data shows that the value of the average used car has grown by 3.4%. In late May, a report from Edmunds said used car prices in the US were the highest they’ve been in three years.
What About the Cybertruck?
At the White House event, Trump also said he bought his granddaughter a Tesla Cybertruck. In a March 20 TikTok video, Kai Trump is featured driving a Cybertruck Cyberbeast variant and says, “Elon got this [version] for me because they didn’t make it at the time when my grandpa got me one.” It’s unclear if she will be relinquishing the EV; in a TikTok video posted this morning, she’s seen sitting in a car that does not appear to be the Cybertruck.
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If she does sell it, Car Gurus shows that the value of a Cybertruck fell even further than the Model S over the last three months, dropping 11.97% to an average price of $81,733.
Given that the Cybertruck is a recent release from the company, this drop may also be tied to more vehicles being added to the used marketplace. However, new cars are also not flying off the lot. According to vehicle registration data from S&P Global Mobility, the Ford F-150 Lightning beat out the Cybertruck with 7,913 new registrations in Q1, compared with the Cybertruck’s 7,126.
At launch, Tesla included a clause in its purchase agreements stipulating that Cybertruck buyers couldn’t sell the vehicle within the first year of ownership without explicit permission from Tesla. If they did, Tesla could sue them. But the automaker quietly dropped that rule last year.
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