Potential government plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars with one of Elon Musk’s companies may have stalled out after a news outlet discovered a tiny piece of information buried in a White House document.
On Wednesday, Drop Site News found a curious detail in a public “procurement forecast” for 2025 from President Donald Trump’s State Department. The spreadsheet included a line item which seemed to signal the possibility of offering Tesla, Musk’s auto company, a $400 million contract for a fleet of armored vehicles.
But once word of a potential nine-figure contract began circulating, the forecast was edited to omit the word Tesla in lieu of a more vague description that read “armored electric vehicles.”
On Thursday, however, the State Department told The New York Times it had completely parked plans to solicit bids for any armored electric cars.
Attempting to navigate itself away from any appearance of impropriety, it said the idea stemmed from Joe Biden administration and their intention “to explore interest from private companies to produce armored electric vehicles.”
“The solicitation is on hold and there are no current plans to issue it,” the State Department told the Times in a statement.
While the direct reference to Tesla in the document ― and its conspicuous removal ― certainly raised eyebrows, the State Department has spent billions with Musk’s companies during both Republican and Democratic regimes.
And the State Department’s claim it was Biden’s idea to push for more EVs would make sense, given how steering away from fossil fuels was a key part of his environmental agenda.
Tech outlet Gizmodo also pointed out how “Tesla” just may have been a sloppy shorthand for any type of electric car and how the spreadsheet is not an official budget, but only a rough spending outline that’s part of a legally required planning process.
The site also noted that the intention may have been to put armor on vehicles the department already owns, meaning the work in question would not have been done by Tesla.
Musk, who is currently behind the wheel of an aggressive cost-cutting effort by the Department of Government Efficiency, was quick to rebuff any suggestion of corruption after MSNBC reported on the matter on Wednesday.
Accusing reporter Rachel Maddow of spreading misinformation in a post on X, the tech billionaire asked, “Hey @Maddow, why the lie?”
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While the State Department claims it is no longer looking to spend money on armored electric vehicles of any sort, the initial budget forecast further fueled concerns that Musk has been using his Oval Office influence to enrich himself.
The SpaceX CEO, who maneuvered his way into Trump’s inner circle by spending more than a quarter-billion dollars on his election campaign, owns multiple companies that already have multibillion-dollar contracts with the federal government.