One day after Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk forced a showdown with Alameda County and re-started some operations at his company’s massive automotive manufacturing plant in Fremont, President Trump threw his support behind Musk’s controversial efforts to get Tesla’s cars again rolling off the assembly line.
Trump, who like Musk uses Twitter as his main tool for putting his opinions out in public, tweeted Tuesday morning that California should waste no more time in letting Tesla get back up and running.
“California should let Tesla & @elonmusk open the plant, NOW,” tweeted Trump. “It can be done Fast & Safely!”
California should let Tesla & @elonmusk open the plant, NOW. It can be done Fast & Safely!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2020
Trump’s support comes as more states and businesses have begun taking steps to re-open after weeks of upheaval resulting from the coronavirus pandemic that has devastated the economy and sent unemployment figures to levels not seen since the Great Depression.
On Monday, Tesla re-opened its Fremont facility where the company employs about 10,000 workers and builds its Model 3, Model S, Model X and Model Y vehicles. Musk had tweeted that Tesla would begin some production work at the plant “against Alameda County rules” and said he would be on the production line with Tesla employees. Musk also challenged Alameda County officials to arrest him for violating the nearly two-month-long shelter-in-place order that was put in place in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus around the Bay Area.
Late Monday, Alameda County said in statement that Tesla could run “basic minimum operations” at the Fremont plant, and that it was “addressing this matter using the same phased approach we use for other businesses which have violated the Order in the past, and we hope that Tesla will likewise comply without further enforcement measures.”
Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump’s support for the company’s re-opening plan. On Saturday, Tesla posted some details of it re-opening plan on its company blog, but it hasn’t said how many people will initially come back to work at Fremont, or how long it might be before it its plant is fully operational.
