Elon Musk
A hot seat for Musk, the trade war and third-term talk: Takeaways from the week
A GOP electoral warning points to Elon Musk in the hot seat, and President Trump employed a third-term distraction. Also, a trade war rages, and there were mass firings at key scientific agencies.
Tesla’s quarterly sales fall 13%. Experts blame Musk
The disappointing global deliveries of the company's electric car models come as CEO Elon Musk's role as President Trump's cost-cutting czar sparks a backlash among consumers.
Trump and Musk’s backing wasn’t enough to flip Wisconsin Supreme Court
National Democrats sent in millions for the liberal's campaign while Trump endorsed — and Musk financed — the conservative's. Abortion, redistricting and Tesla could come before the court.
Expert says Tesla’s best way to rebuild its brand is to ditch Musk
The Tesla brand is in trouble, according to branding consultant Allen Adamson, who says the car company is facing headwinds due to a lack of innovation and the political activity of CEO Elon Musk.
Signal chat fallout, tariff tension — and 3 more takeaways from Trump’s week
Here, five takeaways from a week when the Trump administration has had to deal with the Signal chat leak, announced new tariffs and made more deportations.
Former head of Social Security says Elon Musk and DOGE are wrong about the agency
Michael Astrue, former commissioner of Social Security Administration under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, told NPR Elon Musk is wrong about Social Security and that there is no widespread fraud.
Elon Musk heads to the Pentagon, sparking controversy
The New York Times reported Musk would be getting a briefing on U.S. plans for any potential war against China. The Trump administration is pushing back, saying this is false.
A Tesla protester targeted by Elon Musk speaks out: ‘I have to protect myself.’
"When one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful person in the world is saying you've committed a crime, it doesn't matter what the truth is," said Valerie Costa, an anti-Tesla protester.
They look like Nazi salutes. Here’s why some people think they’re a joke
Multiple people have given stiff-arm salutes after Elon Musk did it twice on Inauguration Day. Many claim it was a joke but extremism experts worry the once-taboo salute is getting normalized.
Who’s in, who’s out and who is Billboard’s Woman of the Year? Find out in the quiz
If you've been paying attention to international politics, you'll get at least three — yes, THREE! — questions right this week!
Elon Musk is winning Republican fans. Can Tesla win them over, too?
Tesla is gaining traction among conservative buyers, while it loses support among liberals. But are there enough Republican EV shoppers to make up the difference?
Trump administration slams brakes on government’s adoption of electric vehicles
Memos obtained by NPR show a key federal agency has paused orders of zero-emission vehicles and some federally owned EV chargers will be turned off.
The government already knows a lot about you. DOGE is trying to access all of it
Agencies from Social Security to the IRS store sensitive data on millions of Americans. Here's what the government knows about us – and what's at risk as DOGE seeks access to the data.
Media Matters sues Elon Musk’s X over ‘libel tourism’ legal assault
A new suit in an ongoing legal battle between the billionaire and the liberal advocacy group claims Musk's legal attacks are impeding the organization's work.
Top Democrats ask Rubio for answers on now-canceled $400 million Tesla plan
A letter from two House Democrats presses Rubio for details about who approved an effort to try to use hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money on armored electric vehicles from Tesla.
Why VA mental health workers feel Elon Musk’s emails are psychological warfare
Mental health professionals with the Veterans Health Administration say the stress caused by Elon Musk's "What did you do last week?" emails is hurting veterans' care.
Why is Elon Musk so obsessed with ‘ghost employees’?
When Musk took over Twitter, he launched a payroll audit to root out dead workers getting paid. Now, Musk is launching the same campaign across the federal government.
State Supreme Court races can be costly, competitive and combative. Why?
Wisconsin is on track to break spending records once again in a high court contest that's at times turned heated. But these races weren't always like this.
DOGE’s savings page fixed old mistakes — and added new ones
An NPR review of new data added to DOGE's "wall of receipts" finds the group quietly changed previous errors, added new ones and still has little verified savings to show for its work.
Federal workers get a new email demanding their accomplishments
Federal employees have received a second email from the Office of Personnel Management asking them what they did last week.
1 thing that upended years of U.S. foreign policy — and other big Trump developments
Three years after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the U.S., in a split with its European allies over the war, sided with Russia at the U.N.
Data show Tesla sales declined sharply in Europe
New data out this week shows a sharp decline in Tesla sales in Europe. The company is facing multiple headwinds — including consumer pushback to CEO Elon Musk's political pivot to the right.
Musk says work to stop Ebola was accidentally cut but restored. Experts raise doubts
Elon Musk said USAID's "Ebola prevention" was "accidentally canceled" but "immediately" restored. Health specialists following the current outbreak in Uganda raise doubts about the restoration.
Musk says federal workers should expect another round of ‘pulse check’ emails
President Trump warned federal workers who did not reply to recent emails asking them to describe "five things" they accomplished are "on the bubble" suggesting they are at risk of losing their jobs.
A pattern emerges in Elon Musk’s federal shakeup: ‘Break first, ask questions later’
Five weeks in, there's an emerging pattern in how the Trump administration moves to target federal employees. And it begins with Elon Musk bringing in tactics he's employed at his various businesses.
Trump administration backs off requiring response to ‘What did you do last week?’ email
"No one knows what we are supposed to do," said one federal employee amid conflicting and shifting directives on whether to comply with Elon Musk's directive to list five accomplishments.
A new document undercuts Trump admin’s denials about $400 million Tesla deal
The State Department claimed a plan to buy thousands of armored Teslas was left over from the Biden administration. A document obtained by NPR shows the Biden plan was far smaller.
Elon Musk blurs the line between his government and business roles
The tech titan and President Trump say they will avoid any conflicts of interest, but it's difficult for the public to verify that.
In case you missed it: Here’s what happened with Trump this week, from Ukraine to DOGE
NPR rounds up what happened this week, the fourth week of President Trump's administration, and takes a look at some developments that have been overlooked.
DOGE released data about federal contract savings. It doesn’t add up
A new government tracker claims DOGE has saved billions from ending federal contracts. But an NPR analysis of the data finds the claimed savings don't add up.
Is Trump preparing to cancel America’s ride back to the moon?
President Trump launched the Artemis program to return U.S. astronauts to the moon for the first time since Apollo. Now, the plan could be a casualty of the cost-cutting drive overseen by Elon Musk.
Trump says Elon Musk’s $10 million settlement over Twitter suit was ‘a big discount’
It's the second tech company to agree to a payout after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol prompted Trump to be kicked off numerous social media platforms.
