The U.S. State Department on Wednesday appeared to back down on plans to purchase $400 million in armored Tesla Cybertrucks amids mounting questions about a conflict of interest considering the automaker’s CEO Elon Musk plays a major role in the new Trump administration. But it’s unclear from an updated procurement forecast whether authorities will switch to other vehicles or have simply obscured their purchase plans.
The original State Department procurement forecast listed plans to buy armored Tesla Cybertrucks.
Elon Musk claims to have slashed billions in federal spending since taking on the role of commander-in-chief of the Trump administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency. But it looked like he found a way to squeeze $400 million out of the State Department budget, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, State’s 2025 procurement forecast calling for the purchase of $400 million in “Armored Tesla” products. Those were to be modified versions of the Tesla Cybertruck, according to various sources.
The deal would have been a big one for Tesla – for which Musk still serves as CEO and primary shareholder – considering demand for Cybertruck has fallen off sharply after an early surge. But, once revealed, the planned purchased quickly raised red flags, the British newspaper The Economic Times responding with the headline: “Is Elon Musk Running into a Conflict of Interest?”
While the State Department’s 2025 procurement forecast no longer specifies the purchase of armored Teslas it’s not clear if the deal has been dropped, however, the new language simply indicating the government now will purchase “Armored Electric Vehicles” instead.
Musk slashes spending – except on his own businesses
Trump walking with Tesla CEO Elon Musk shortly before his inauguration.
Since Donald Trump moved into the White House on January 20, Musk has been on of his most powerful lieutenants, assigned to run DOGE and seek out both inefficient government spending and corruption. He has targeted a number of agencies, while generating intense criticism in the process for moves like halting spending of USAID, a fund designed to address global poverty and hunger.
Musk has yet to identify any cuts that would impact one of his own companies, however. He not only serves as Tesla’s chief executive but runs ventures in neuroscience, artificial intelligence, solar panels and space rocketry.
As the Times reported, “Companies he owns or controls have secured $13 billion in federal contracts over the past five years. SpaceX, the rocket company he founded, collects most of that money and is one of the biggest government contractors.
Armoring an
Cybertruck unplugged? There are signs demand has been flagging .
armored truck
During the original debut of Cybertruck a demonstration of its strength went wrong when its window broke.
The original State Department procurement plan forecast spending $400 million in its 2025 budget for “Armored Tesla” vehicles. It didn’t specify an individual model but it now has been widely reported to be the Cybertruck.
Ironically, Musk initially made significant claims about the capabilities of the electric pickup to withstand attacks. During a November 2023 handover of the first dozen Cybertrucks to buyers he asserted it would be the only vehicle sold to retail customers able to “survive the apocalypse.” Actually, it turns out, the stainless steel body appears capable to protecting occupants from some weaponry, though not necessarily the most advanced rifles or bombs such as IEDs. And the windows, Musk later acknowledged, are not nearly as well-protected.
“Remember to duck if you see someone with a gun,” Musk said in a tweet on his social media service X in January.
The Times reported the Cybertrucks State was looking to buy would be further armored by Armormax, a Utah-based upfitter, with features like bullet-resistant windows.
More Musk News
- Tesla Stock in Freefall and Musk Catches Blame
- Has Elon Musk Jumped the Shark?
- Judge Again Rejects Musk’s Massive Pay Package
Giving Cybertruck a much-needed boost
Shortly after Tesla first announced plans for the Cybertruck six years ago, Musk claimed the company had rolled up more than 1 million advance reservations. Since the pickup actually went on sale, however, Tesla has had trouble transforming those into actual orders. The automaker is typically vague with sales numbers but, by using registration data, Cox Automotive estimated only 39,000 were sold in 2024.
And demand hasn’t gained much momentum since then, despite the automaker slashing prices for Cybertruck by as much as $20,000. As Headlight.News recently reported, Tesla has transferred some of the workers originally assigned to the pickup’s assembly line as it has slowed production.
Cybertruck’s weak performance comes at a time when Tesla sales, in general, have been slowing down, analysts such as Telemetry Research’s Sam Abuelsamid attributing that, in part to mounting criticism of CEO Musk’s politics.
The automaker’s worldwide sales fell 1.1% it announced during a 2024 earnings call. But Cox estimates the downturn was closer to 6% in the U.S. The California Automobile Dealers Association last month noted that Tesla was the single reason why EV sales in the state fell last year.
Is the deal really dead?
According to the modified State Department procurement forecast, it will now seek to purchase $400 million worth of “Armored Electric Vehicles.” Curiously, the original plan to buy Teslas was buried in a NAICS Code 311999, normally used by industry for miscellaneous food manufacturing. The revised document moves the purchase to NAICS Code 561613, reserved for “Armored Car Services.”
The idea of using armored battery-electric vehicles actually was encouraged by the Biden administration which strongly advocated for expanded EV sales.
State officials have yet to respond to a Headlight.News query but told Time magazine no specific purchase has yet been approved but it would normally go through a multistage process before making a selection from among potential bidders.
Observers are watching to see if one of those still might be Tesla. But, in a Thursday tweet, Musk wrote, “I’m pretty sure Tesla isn’t getting $400M. No one mentioned it to me, at least.”
Of course it’s still Tesla. Musk is in this for himself. Notably, the departments he is shutting down had multiple investigations going against him and his companies, including USAID.