Elon Musk
Tesla stock rebounds and Tim Walz backtracks: ‘I was making a joke’

Tesla stock rebounded over 20 percent in the past five trading days, and, coincidentally, the boost came just after Tim Walz said he gets a boost from watching the automaker’s shares fall.
Although Walz’s pushback against Tesla stock mostly comes from his evident distaste for CEO Elon Musk, who has joined President Donald Trump’s team as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), it seems he might not have realized the EV maker’s shares make up a portion of his state’s pension fund.
This was something Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary mentioned last week after Walz’s comments. However, now that Tesla shares are rising once again, Walz is backtracking by saying that his comment from last week was his attempt at humor.
Walz said:
“I have to be careful about being a smartass. I was making a joke. These people have no sense of humor.”
NEW: Tim Walz says he was totally joking when he celebrated Tesla stock going down, says Elon Musk makes him unhealthy.
The comment came after Walz apparently didn’t realize his own pension plan owns Tesla stock.
“I have to be careful about being a smartass. I was making a… pic.twitter.com/w1QHAYyvco
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 23, 2025
Tesla shares have rebounded nicely since a substantial drop so far this year.
Although the stock is still down about 28 percent this year, things are looking better for the company as it now shifts its focus to the release of several affordable models, the ramp of the new Model Y “Juniper,” the release of the Cybercab and Robotaxi platform in Texas and California, and other potential catalysts like the Optimus robot.
Tesla aiming to produce first “legion” of Optimus robots this 2025
Last week’s All-Hands meeting from Tesla was publicly broadcast on X and seemed to be the response many investors were hoping for as questions started to seep in regarding Musk’s commitment to the company.
While his attention seems to be on solving government spending and eliminating corruption, it is evident Musk is still paying attention to what is going on at Tesla.
Shares are up over 10 percent at 1:05 p.m. on the East Coast, trading at around $274.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk and Donald Trump to speak with each other Friday: report
White House aides have scheduled a call between the CEO and U.S. President on Friday.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s feud seems to be thawing, at least to some degree.
As per a recent Politico report, White House aides have scheduled a call between the CEO and U.S. President on Friday.
Musk vs. Trump
Musk turned into a staunch critic of Trump amidst the administration’s efforts to pass the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which the CEO claimed would add trillions to the country’s deficit. Trump, for his part, claimed that Musk turned on him due to the adverse effects of the proposed bill on his companies.
The spat between the two powerful men became so notable that Musk called for the impeachment of Trump on X. He also claimed that Trump was in the Epstein list. The U.S. President, for his part, threatened to cancel billions of dollars worth of government contracts with Musk’s companies such as SpaceX.
Potential Truce
As per Politico, however, White House aides have stepped in to temper the tensions and broker peace between the two powerful men. When asked by the outlet about his ongoing feud with the CEO, Trump reportedly stated that “it’s okay” and that “it’s going very well, never done better.” The U.S. President also highlighted his favorability ratings, stating that his “numbers are through the roof.”
While the CEO was very aggressive against Trump in his X posts, he did back down somewhat after some time. When hedge fund manager Bill Ackman argued that Trump and Musk should make peace for the benefit of the United States, the CEO responded with, “You’re not wrong.” Musk also walked back on his decision to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which is essential to NASA’s operations.
Elon Musk
SpaceX to decommission Dragon spacecraft in response to Pres. Trump war of words with Elon Musk
Elon Musk says SpaceX will decommission Dragon as a result of President Trump’s threat to end his subsidies and government contracts.

SpaceX will decommission its Dragon spacecraft in response to the intense war of words that President Trump and CEO Elon Musk have entered on various social media platforms today.
President Trump and Musk, who was once considered a right-hand man to Trump, have entered a vicious war of words on Thursday. The issues stem from Musk’s disagreement with the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which will increase the U.S. federal deficit, the Tesla and SpaceX frontman says.
How Tesla could benefit from the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that axes EV subsidies
The insults and threats have been brutal, as Trump has said he doesn’t know if he’ll respect Musk again, and Musk has even stated that the President would not have won the election in November if it were not for him.
President Trump then said later in the day that:
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Government Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
Musk’s response was simple: he will decommission the SpaceX capsule responsible for transporting crew and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS): Dragon.
🚨 Elon says Dragon will be decommissioned immediately due to President Trump’s threats to terminate SpaceX’s government contracts https://t.co/XNB0LflZIy
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2025
Dragon has completed 51 missions, 46 of which have been to the ISS. It is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth’s orbit. It is the only spacecraft that is capable of returning vast amounts of cargo to Earth. It is also the first private spacecraft to take humans to the ISS.
The most notable mission Dragon completed is one of its most recent, as SpaceX brought NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth after being stranded at the ISS by a Boeing Starliner capsule.
SpaceX’s reluctance to participate in federally funded projects may put the government in a strange position. It will look to bring Boeing back in to take a majority of these projects, but there might be some reluctance based on the Starliner mishap with Wilmore and Williams.
SpaceX bails out Boeing and employees are reportedly ‘humiliated’
Elon Musk
Tesla cites competitive harm in attempt to keep certain crash data private
Tesla wants some data to be kept from the public because competitors could use it for their own benefit.

Tesla is citing competitive harm as it is attempting to keep certain crash data private from the public in relation to a lawsuit against it and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) from the Washington Post.
In a federal court filing seen by Reuters, Tesla said it wanted some of the crash information the Post was attempting to obtain to be kept confidential because it could be used by rivals to assess the company’s self-driving tech.
Tesla touts its self-driving suite as one of the most robust on the market, and those who have used it believe it to be one of the best around. However, accidents do happen, and while Tesla still has not reached full autonomy and tells drivers to continue paying attention to be prepared to take over, the company still seems to take a lot of the blame for them.
There are also some things that could be revealed about Tesla’s self-driving strategy if it were to release the data, the company says. The efficacy of each version of its FSD suite could allow competitors to calculate how many crashes occurred on each release.
Attorneys for the Washington Post said that Tesla’s versions of both software and hardware are not kept private from owners themselves, so the information should be made public.
The NHTSA has been investigating accidents involving Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite since it opened an investigation last October.
The company is used to dealing with attempts to hinder the progress or capabilities of the FSD suite. When used correctly, it can be a widely beneficial suite that helps make driving less stressful, but Tesla has always been more than vocal that it cannot be used as a replacement for human drivers, at least not yet.
Currently, Tesla Full Self-Driving still requires owners to pay attention and be aware of road conditions, as they may have to take over unexpectedly.
Tesla is hoping to launch its Robotaxi platform in Austin next week on Thursday, as it has reportedly landed on June 12 as its launch date.
However, media skepticism regarding the suite’s capabilities has conveniently started to ramp up as the Robotaxi platform launch nears.
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