(Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
Amid a wave of vandalism against Tesla cars, dealerships, and charging stations, the Trump administration has vowed to crack down on the perpetrators.
“So if you're going to touch a Tesla, go to a dealership, do anything —you better watch out, because we're coming after you," US Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox Business.
Earlier this week, Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared at the White House, where Trump gave a Tesla sales pitch of sorts, got behind the wheel of a Tesla, and pledged to purchase a Cybertruck for his 17-year-old granddaughter.
A reporter asked about the vandalism, telling the president that "some say [the perpetrators] should be labeled domestic terrorists." Trump responded: "I will do that; I'll do it. I'm going to stop them. They're harming a great American company.
"You do it to Tesla, and you do it to any company, we're going to catch you, and ... you're going to go through hell," Trump added.
On Friday, Bondi echoed Trump’s threat, telling Fox that at least one suspect has been arrested. On March 5, the Justice Department charged a 41-year-old Oregon man with illegally possessing an unregistered destructive device for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails and firing a gun outside a Salem, Oregon, Tesla dealership.
“They're looking at up to 20 years in prison,” Bondi said. "And if you're funding this, we're coming after you. We're going to find out who you are."
On X, Musk responded to Bondi's soundbite: The vandals "fought [the] law and the law won.
Musk has been leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), overseeing and directing controversial cuts to the federal workforce. Although Musk says he’s focused on eliminating government waste and bureaucracy, DOGE has also faced intense criticism as an “unconstitutional” power grab that’s given inexperienced, junior staffers access to sensitive data in federal systems while stripping away federal IT programs.
In response, DOGE is facing a flood of lawsuits. Others have organized "TeslaTakedown" protests that accuse Musk of damaging US democracy. Some have gone further and committed acts of vandalism, including burning down Tesla Supercharger stations. In Oregon, shots were fired at a Tesla dealership in Tigard; no one was injured, but cars and windows were damaged.