The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it had set plans to buy armored electric vehicles on waiting after reports that the $ 400 million mandate would go to Tesla, whose chief executive, Elon Musk, is one of the most important advisers and supporters of President Trump.
The Agency pushed behind the proposals that the market was designed to benefit Mr Musk, saying in a statement that the plans came from the request of the Biden administration “to investigate interest from private companies to produce armor electric vehicles”.
“The invitation is waiting and there are no current plans for its extradition,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The scheduled market was registered with forecasts for the department’s supplies for 2025, which is intended to give businesses the opportunity to compete for projects. The document was published in December, after Mr Trump won the election, but before taking on duties.
Tesla’s name was removed from the document after the list was reported late Wednesday. Plans to order Tesla vehicles had caused a dispute over Mr Musk’s close cooperation with Mr Trump.
Mr Musk spent more than $ 250 million to help to elect Trump, who then appointed him as a leader of a cost -cutting initiative named Government Efficiency or Doge.
The Foreign Ministry document did not specify which Tesla model was planning to buy, but the electric cybertruck, which has a high strength stainless steel body, would be the most appropriate.
Later on Wednesday, a different version of the procurement document appeared on the internet. He referred to “armored electric vehicles”, omitting any Tesla reference. But even this project is no longer discussed, the department said. He said he would allow companies to submit proposals.
The plan to buy armored electric vehicles, whether Teslas or other brands, would be a departure for Trump administration. Among Mr Trump’s first actions as president were executive orders demanding the abolition of motivations and regulations promoted by electric vehicles.
These cars and trucks were central to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to combat climate change. In 2021, he signed an executive order that encourages government agencies to buy electric vehicles and set a goal of buying only vehicles without acquisition of federal fleets by 2035.
He also plans to spend $ 400 million on Teslas was remarkable as Mr Musk has published almost hourly on X, the social media website for wasting government spending.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comments. In X, Mr Musk shared a position from a supporter who said that a report on the subject by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow was a “blow”. He also said that he was never informed of the Foreign Ministry’s intention to buy armored Teslas.
Mr Musk is already an important government contractor. The companies he own or control have secured $ 13 billion in federal contracts in the last five years. SpaceX, the rocket company it established, collects most of this money and is one of the largest government contractors.
The Foreign Ministry has bought a small number of Teslas in recent years, according to a government database. In 2022, for example, the section bought a vehicle from the car industry for the US Embassy in Reykjavik, Iceland. The $ 400 million order would be much higher, although it is still a relatively small percentage of Tesla’s car sales, which was $ 77 billion last year.
Plans for the Cybertrucks market were reported on Wednesday from the Drop Site News.
Tesla would not have raised all $ 400 million in order. Some of the money would have gone to businesses that upgrade vehicles to withstand attacks, such as Armormax, an Ogden company in Utah.
Justin Johnson, a business manager at Armormax, acknowledged in a brief telephone interview on Wednesday that there was interest in the product of the company by Trump’s management, but said he had not been authorized to comment further.
Cybertruck remains a possible option for any government agency looking for rough electric vehicles. Mr Musk has depicted the vehicle as “Apocalypse Ready”, although some people have posted videos on social media that seems to show that the vehicle is struggling in difficult conditions such as snow.
Other vehicles may also match the order specifications, such as the GMC Hummer Pickup and General Motors’ Sport Vehicle or the Cadillac Escalade electric version. GM has a section that sells armored and rough versions of its vehicles in the US and foreign governments.
Aaron Crolik They contributed reports.
