Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc., and Howard Lutnick, the U.S. Commerce Secretary, were spotted walking on the South Lawn of the White House prior to boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C., on Friday, March 14, 2025.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick encouraged the public to “invest in Tesla” stock, a rare endorsement from a Cabinet member for a company facing declining share prices since December.
Lutnick’s promotion of Tesla shares during a Fox News interview came as CEO Elon Musk manages the highly debated DOGE initiative aimed at reducing the federal workforce under the Trump administration. Additionally, Tesla has been experiencing incidents of vandalism at its locations and vehicles across the U.S.
Federal conflict of interest regulations restrict federal employees from leveraging their “government position or title or any authority associated with his public office to endorse any product, service, or enterprise,” except under limited circumstances, none of which seemed applicable to Lutnick.
“If you want to learn something on this show tonight, buy Tesla,” Lutnick stated during an interview with Jesse Watters.
“It’s unbelievable,” he emphasized, “that this guy’s stock is so cheap.”
“It’ll never be this affordable again,” Lutnick declared, as footage of Teslas in Las Vegas—set ablaze by Molotov cocktails earlier that week—was displayed on a split screen.
Tesla’s market capitalization has plummeted by hundreds of billions since its stock began declining in December, following Donald Trump’s election as president.
Burned Teslas are seen at a Tesla Collision Center after a person used incendiary devices to ignite several vehicles on March 18, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ethan Miller | Getty Images
“When people recognize the innovative technologies and robots he’s developing, they’ll look back and say, ‘gosh, I should have bought Elon Musk’s stock’,” Lutnick added.
“I mean, who wouldn’t want to invest in Elon Musk? You must be joking.”
Prior to his appointment by Trump to head the Commerce Department, Lutnick had an extensive background in finance at the firm Cantor Fitzgerald.
A spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for a comment.
Musk and Tesla have become focal points of criticism from detractors of the Trump administration, particularly due to Musk’s leadership role in DOGE, which stands for Department of Government Efficiency.
Recently, Trump transformed the White House lawn into a temporary Tesla showroom, showcasing five vehicles for the press and expressing his intent to purchase one.
Presidents and vice presidents are not bound by federal conflict of interest rules.
At the event, Trump revealed he had acquired a Tesla Cybertruck for his granddaughter, Kai Trump.
On Thursday, Tesla announced a recall of nearly all Cybertrucks in the U.S. to address an issue with an exterior panel that may detach during driving.
Demonstrators gather to protest against Elon Musk and Tesla on February 22, 2025, in Seattle, Washington.
David Ryder | Getty Images
During Trump’s first term, former White House senior advisor Kellyanne Conway faced backlash for promoting products from a brand owned by Ivanka Trump during a Fox News segment.
“Go buy Ivanka’s stuff; that’s my suggestion. I dislike shopping but I’ll get some for myself today,” Conway stated on “Fox and Friends” in February 2017.
“I’m going to give it a free commercial here,” she noted.
The U.S. Office of Government Ethics subsequently alerted the White House about potential violations of ethics rules concerning Conway’s statements.
In response, the White House ethics office indicated that they investigated the issue and found “strong reason” to believe Conway acted inadvertently and was unlikely to repeat such actions.
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