'Sleazy corruption': $400M award reportedly for 'Armored Tesla' outrages Musk critics

The State Department appears likely to award a $400 million contract to tech billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla Motors to deliver an "armored Tesla" to the federal government — a procurement forecast first modified in December, before President Donald Trump was sworn in but after he was elected, according to Drop Site News.

Musk, already one of the federal government's largest contractors through his SpaceX firm, also happens to head up the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, task force, which is currently pushing mass layoffs of civil servants and other dramatic cutbacks to various federal grants and services in the supposed name of balancing the budget.

The award — which raises questions about a conflict of interest — also comes as Musk pushes for the shutdown of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and plans to release a new financial services product on his X platform that stood to be regulated by the agency.

The news led to a burst of outrage from critics on social media.

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"Wow. Looks like Elon Musk is on-track to win a $400,000,000 State Department contract for 'Armored Tesla' in 2025," wrote Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett. "The contract is from the 'Office of Small and Disadvantaged Utilization.'"

"Donald Trump's State Department expects to spend $400 million on armored electric vehicles made by Special Government Employee Elon Musk's Tesla," wrote the social media account Art Candee. "While Donald Trump screeches loudly on TV against EVs and claims that Elon can police his own conflicts of interest... He's quietly handing Elon massive government contracts hoping nobody will notice. Appalling."

"I bet the Doge gang will be all over this sleazy corruption," wrote Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

"OMG — Musk has been cutting things like cancer research so the government can pay him $400 million to make an 'Armored Tesla.' Holy s---," wrote former Kamala Harris strategist Mike Nellis.

"This is what they call 'efficiency'?" wrote Richard Painter, who served as White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration.

"Musk convinced MAGA he's fighting to save their precious taxpayer dollars," wrote Jared Holt of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Meanwhile, he's teed up to win a $400 million contract making armored Tesla cars for the State Department. No talk of cutting that one, oddly enough!

"Musk's plan: Shut down parts of the govt investigating him; Claim that he's stopping government spending; Give himself all the money," wrote Tristan Snell, a lawyer who prosecuted the Trump University fraud case.

Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified the owner of the social media account "Art Candee." This article has been updated.