Elon Musk seems to get a surplus amount of $400 million from the US state department as the Trump administration is planning to acquire armoured Tesla vehicles.
The state department document for fiscal year 2025 revealed that the administration plan but did not detail the specific Tesla models for procurement, the Cybertruck, featuring its military-style design and steel exterior, could be considered, NPR reported.
Elon Musk is the Tesla’s Chief Executive and currently serves as a senior White House official heading the Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to reduce federal workforce and combat corruption.
The document underwent modification at 9.12 pm on Wednesday, replacing “Tesla” with “armoured electric vehicles” whilst maintaining the $400 million contract value.
Musk denies reports, says, ‘pretty sure Tesla isn’t getting $400M’
When MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow reported on the $400 million contract, Musk refuted the rumors and said on X: “Hey @Maddow, why the lie?”
Musk, who contributed over $250 million to Trump’s election campaign, utilises a DOGE-focused X account to scrutinise what he considers excessive federal contracts.
The tech entrepreneur took to X to dismiss these reports and said, “I’m pretty sure Tesla isn’t getting $400M. No one mentioned it to me, at least.” He responded to a user who pointed out that the government’s 2025 procurement forecast had been altered within hours, changing from “Tesla” to “Armored Electric vehicles.”
Musk’s response has stopped the idea that Tesla is receiving $400 million but it is not receiving any money that confusion is still lying in the room.
In the procurement document, the listing for “Armored Electric Vehicles” is named as a new requirement under a five-year contract at an estimated cost of between $100m and $500m, Independent reported.
The omission emerged as the world’s richest man, Musk, was found to still be receiving multi-million dollar contract payouts from the US government for his rocket company, SpaceX, while his Doge team promises to gut government spending.