Elon Musk said on an earnings call Tuesday that he intends to devote more of his time to running Tesla, which reported a sharp drop in sales and revenue in the first quarter of the year, amid widespread concerns about the effects of tariffs and Musk’s own role in reshaping the government.
Tesla’s total revenue from car sales fell 20% and net income fell a staggering 71% in the first quarter of 2025, the company announced Tuesday.
On an earnings call with investors, Musk stated that “starting next month, I will be allocating more of my time to Tesla” and that he will “continue to spend a day or two on government matters” for as long as President Donald Trump requests.
Musk did not directly address whether his involvement in spearheading steep federal workforce cuts and deploying his DOGE data teams throughout the government impacted his company’s sales or his decision to step down from his role with DOGE — though he did say, “There’s been some blowback for the time that I’ve been spending in government” with DOGE.
Tesla’s total revenue fell to $19.3 billion, a 9 percent drop from the first quarter of 2024, which Tesla attributed to a decline in vehicle deliveries and a decrease in how much its cars sell for, according to data released ahead of an earnings call later Tuesday.
The company’s operating income dropped 66% to.4 billion.
Notably, Musk has been a vocal opponent of many of the tariffs Trump has decided to impose, but on the earnings call, he stated that Tesla is “the least affected car company with respect to tariffs, at least in most respects,” due to its supply chains.
“I support lower tariffs for prosperity, but the decision is ultimately up to the president of the United States.” So, you know, I’ll continue to advocate for lower tariffs over higher tariffs, but that’s all I can do.
And he defended that work, saying DOGE has “made a lot of progress in addressing waste and fraud,” which he said had to be fought to “try to get the country back on the right track.”
“And working together with President Trump and his administration — because a further shift, if America goes down, we all go down with it, including Tesla and everyone else.”
