A lot of #resist folks are patting themselves on the back today, pointing out that they predicted the inevitable fallout between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the CEO of both an important car and space company.
First of all, it’s not prescience to suspect that two people whose later careers have been defined by a populist disinterest in consensus and, more importantly, by a resistance to conventional advice are butting heads. This was a reasonable eventuality, and in the “nothing ever happens” universe, it could just as easily be reversed before I even finish this post.
Since The Morning Dump is not about politics unless it relates to cars, I’m going to focus on what this means for automobiles and not the memes. Admittedly, the memes are good. In terms of pure theater, it was amusing, though the chuckle I let out was more of the “this is killing me inside” variety. The suggestion from President Trump is that this is all about tax credits, which is a wild reason to set the world on fire for a day.
Musk might be done with Trump (I sort of doubt it), but everyone else is still trying to make a deal. Mercedes has an outline for one, and I think it’s an interesting proposal worth listening to. The world is a crazy place, as always, and the future of warfare is probably drones. Two companies we write about a lot want to be a part of that future.
Finally, it’s Pesage, the official start of Le Mans! Get excited.
Is This Really About EV Tax Credits?
I will not litigate the ongoing battle between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, which stems from Musk’s displeasure with the President’s Big Beautiful Law. I will just say that it got extremely nasty, with Elon Musk stating that the reason why a certain List hasn’t been released is because President Trump is on it, and that the President should be impeached. For his part, the President said Musk is mad about losing electric car tax credits and that the government should just cancel all Musk’s many government contracts.
Musk responded by threatening to shut down America’s space program. This isn’t a place where I talk about my political beliefs, but my non-political belief is that we have one elected President at a time, and it’s bad that one unelected person can wield enough power to kill the International Space Station.
That’s a lot of things happening, and yesterday it cost Elon Musk’s companies, notably Tesla, about $38 billion in valuation according to Bloomberg. For whatever reason, Musk chilled out at the end of the day and seemed open to reconciliation (with Trump, not for the bill). There was a rumor of a call between the two men, but President Trump quashed that idea a few minutes ago. Again, I’m not going to play-by-play this because it’s too exhausting and that’s not my job.
I will say that the contention that Elon Musk is mad about losing tax credits is one I’m not 100% sold on. Even before the election was decided, Musk made a point of saying that his company no longer needs the tax credit. He also thinks subsidies should end for gasoline and just about anything else.
Why? To me, this is the ultimate “pull the ladder up behind you” move. It took a lot of tax credits and government investment to get Tesla to profitability, and now Musk might benefit from depriving other companies of that advantage. It might be bad for Tesla, but it could kill a company like Slate Auto before it even sells a single car.
On the other hand, Musk’s big opposition to the bill did come after he reportedly tried to save the tax credits, according to Bloomberg Government:
The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer personally appealed to House Speaker Mike Johnson to save the tax credit, the person said, requesting anonymity to discuss a private conversation.
Tesla’s profitability, to this day, still relies heavily on carbon offset tax credits and other government programs. With flagging sales, perhaps Musk isn’t interested in a bill that risks any of his revenue? That’s President Trump’s contention, but at this point, you’re having to trust one of two people having a huge public spat.
The thing about Regina George is that Regina George was sometimes right.
Mercedes Proposes 1-For-1 Car Export Deal
Mercedes makes a lot of SUVs in the United States for sale in Europe. It also makes a decent number of cars in Europe for the United States. Given all the negotiations over trade between the EU and the United States, it behooves Mercedes to propose a 1-for-1 exemption for car sales.
According to Spiegel via Reuters, that’s what Mercedes wants:
Mercedes-Benz has proposed a deal under which U.S. cars could be imported into Europe duty free in exchange for tariff waivers on the same number of vehicles that EU automakers export to the U.S., the company’s CEO said in a German magazine interview.
“For every car that leaves the USA or Europe, a car from the other side comes in duty free,” Ola Kaellenius told Spiegel. “We have put this idea to both sides and it is a possible component of the negotiations between the USA and the EU.”
A law like this sort of already exists, which is how Volvo is able to sell Chinese-made cars here without paying tariffs.
Subaru And Kawasaki Want In On The Drone Game
A bunch of cheap unmanned drones may have just destroyed more bombers in one day since at least WWII. It’s a growing business, and Nikkei Asia has a report from the DSEI Japan defense equipment show, where both Subaru and Kawasaki were on hand to show off UAVs.
Kawasaki, in collaboration with French startup VoltAero, is developing twin- and single-engine drones that can fly up to 2,700 kilometers at speeds of up to 600 kilometers per hour with a maximum payload of 500 kilograms.
In 2030, the company aims to churn out 5,000 drone engines a year — a task not particularly hard for a company that makes some 500,000 motorcycles every year.
“When it comes to small and efficient engines, no one can beat Japanese motorcycle makers,” said a guide at the Kawasaki booth.
That makes sense given that a lot of these aircraft have engines that are basically of a design and size shared with motorcycles.
Happy Pesage Day!
The official start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is going on right now in France. It’s Pesage, which is literally just French for “we’re going to weigh something.” It’s the initial tech inspection and weight-taking of the week, though it’s far from the last.
Just to make it exciting, this happens in the center of the town of Le Mans so that everyone can gather around and watch. I’ve only done it once, but it was incredibly fun and I highly recommend it.
There’s something incomparable to having the newest and fastest prototypes being driven through an old European city center.
Le Mans itself is also a fun town. I went looking for a stuffed animal for my daughter and discovered, in typical French fashion, that the place had like six lingerie stores and only one good toy store.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
For no reason at all, here’s “Boys Don’t Cry” from The Cure.
The Big Question
What’s your favorite Le Mans car of all time?
Top Photo: Depositphotos.com
Thanks for the “BBL” joke. It will be the Big Beautiful Law in my mind from now on 🙂
Garage 56 NASCAR Camaro, The picture and videos of it around all of the prototypes make me happy.
Also, the video of it passing the LMP car at nighttime because V8 go brrrrrr and the europeans saying “NaScArS cAnT tUrN”
porsche 917 longtail.
240mph
Yes. With the funky paint job.
https://simeonemuseum.org/collection/1970-porsche-917-lh/
Looking forward to the midnight tweet about deporting South African “refugees”.
1965 Bizzarrini A3/C Lemans.
I’ll bet you in 5 years it’ll be 6 toy stores and 1 lingerie store
Won’t that be the case only if they reverse their birth-rate decline? Last time I was there, a guy in a raincoat with his wiener hanging out of his pants followed our group for a while as we strolled through Rouen, so I can’t recall what stores I saw.
The best looking LeMans car won in 65 and 66. It was in the fork in the road picture in the add free for members article.
It’s my favorite.
If those two guys parents had hugged them every once in a while…. Some other narcissistic fascist adjacent individuals would be powerful instead. This is why time travel is banned. Nothing but names dates and locations changes, the song remains the same.
The D-Type won in 55, 56, and 57. Just sayin…
can I plead typo? I was looking right at this beautiful graphic so I’m lacking any better excuse.
https://www.reddit.com/r/motorsports/comments/4o72tu/your_visual_guide_to_every_24_hours_of_le_mans/#lightbox
I was starting to question if I was thinking of the wrong picture. Let’s just bask in the glory of the XKD.
I was always fascinated that they went diesel, so maybe those. Was the Mazda 787 LeMan? Cause, that would be it.
someone with an agenda got hoodwinked by someone else with a different agenda
They were always just fairweather friends, and when the weather turned bad, someone forgot to put the friendship in Carwash Mode.
As big a problem as one unelected person having control of the future of the space program may be, I’d venture it’s a bigger problem that one elected person can say and then do whatever they want as a stated personal vendetta (and admitting it on social media) without taking into account how that decision affects anything or anyone else or may or may not be in the public interest – the same public that elected person is supposed to serve. The public, not themselves. It’s not that hard. Or at least don’t blurt it right out there.
Who said it’s like shouting theater at a crowded fire?
Really it’s like living next to some psycho neighbors, and they said their home on fire. It’s good karma and all that except you are next door to a fire.
Oh, I looked it up
“Free speech is the right to shout ‘theater’ in a crowded fire.”
Abbie Hoffman, Steal This Book
Hmm, famously Abbie’s home got bombed much to the consternation of of the neighborhood.
TBQ – Le Mans Car: Has to be the 917. I know, it’s like saying The Beatles are the best rock group of all time. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. I will say the R10 TDI is a very close second for me, certainly the car I was the most excited about from a more recent era.
I have the solution to this spat. Elon invites Trump on an inaugural flight on the superheavy starship. Don’t worry, its the one that doesn’t blow up anymore. In turn Donnie contracts Boeing to build Musk a modern day Iron man suit, because we all know Elon sees himself as the RL Tony Stark. They both liftoff July 4th 2026 to a background of spectacular fireworks, it would be an amazing spectacle. Trump, first president in space! Elon, Iron Man! Nothing can go wrong and everything can go right, trust me.
I read the word “flight” as “fight”…
Perhaps this is the Kawasaki you are thinking of?
https://global.kawasaki.com/en/corp/profile/division/gasturbine/index.html
I’m sure they could whip something up.
I believe that people like Trump and Musk, due to their outsized egos, don’t have friends, merely others that can be taken advantage of for their personal gain and are cast aside once they are no longer useful.
Of course this was going to happen.
Maybe Trump will retaliate to Musk’s retaliations by shutting down DOGE.
Win/win!
But then Marjorie would have nothing to do and would start bothering the press, social media, internet and ultimately us and we really don’t want that now do we.
You have two men with giant egos who both think the world revolves around them and are unable to see the world from a different perspective. What’s funny is that they’re both acting in entirely predictable ways, they are both on script.
Bezos must be laughing, not because he’s smarter but he seems to at least know when to keep his mouth shut.
Am I the only person that would be happy to see the EV credit go away?
Once people have to pay the full price of their chosen vehicle… those prices are going to go down.
Or at least the EV guys will stop lying about the cost of their vehicles.
The EV credits made sense to help fund initial R&D of new electric drivetrains. At this point every company that was going to take advantage of that has done so. Personally, I’d be a fan of “tighten emissions requirements a little to encourage efficient transportation, but cut the EV credits”.
People have only ever been paying full price for ICE cars and costs have only gone up.
Only if subsidies for oil disappear.
THIS ⬆️ ICE and oil have been heavily subsidized for 100+ years.
See also: EVs should be subject to a road tax if/when gasoline taxes get properly adjusted for inflation.
You know, people are going to try and explain this as some sort of rational thought behind it. But, that seems, for lack of better words, sanewashing. I’ve spent years working in Sad Factories, and what we’re witnessing is what we in the business would call a Narcissistic Collapse.
Evidenced by, Elon, shows numerous criteria that one would see in a classic Exhibitional Narcissism. With Narcissism, one cannot be publicly humiliated. And that whole Goodbye Elon, Black Eye, and Ketamine stuff happened in pretty quick succession. And some very open calls to replace him on the board. So, what we’re witnessing is a classic example of the GOD defense:
G: Grandiosity- exampled by the “No more spaceship:
O: Omnipotent- “I was the reason he won”
D: Devaluing- “Epstein” tweet
Interestingly, with DJT’s hyperfocus on Interpersonal Grievances and overall Borderline traits, it’s unlikely this goes away anytime soon. And both parties are about to get real weird. So, If I’m invested heavily in Tesla. I would think long and hard about moving my money into something more stable. As this is quite different then their previous erratic behavior, and resolution likely won’t be timely.
Also, Nissan Deltawing.
To be fair, Regina’s “fugly slut” description could apply to both Elon and the Donald.
My favorite Le Mans car is whatever Mercedes went airborne and crashed during qualifying, then got fixed, then went airborne and flipped during the 1st lap of Le Mans. I remember watching it happen live in 1999 and was blown away.
Mark Webber flipped his car in both Thursday practice and the final practice session before the race.
Peter Dumbreck flipped in the race
So that’s three times, still not nearly as bad as Mercedes in 1955.
I am still amazed that Mercedes persisted in 1999. If a spectator got killed it would have been the PR nightmare to end all PR nightmares.
Well until Boeing.
3 airborne cars across 2 drivers?!?! Yikes!
Sounds like a fun car though haha.
But yeah, if a spectator had gotten killed MB would have probably pulled out of all racing until the end of time.
Cadillac V-series.R. Specifically the one belonging to Whelen Engineering, but they’re all great. And a special runner-up shout-out to “Le Monstre”.
Le Monstre lives about three miles away from me at Revs Institute. When you see it in person the name is particularly appropriate. It’s really an imposing beast.
Thanks for that info! I was previously unfamiliar with the Revs Institute and now have it on my “must go to” list for the next time I visit my uncle in Sebring.
You won’t regret it! Top tip, spring for the docent tour that also includes a tour of the workshop. There’s usually something interesting in there in various states of disassembly.
I had to wait several hours in a staging area before they’d let us in and start setting up our paddock area for a Lemons race at Road America while everybody had to wait for them (Whelen) to finish testing and tuning the car and load up. I was not the slightest bit annoyed.
It’s hard to choose, there’s so many interesting prototypes:
– Nissan GT-R LM: An insane play to exploit/circumvent tight rules on rear diffusers, doomed by falling for a flywheel-KERS scam company
– Mazda 787B: A *reliable* rotary!
– Audi R10 TDI: An 8000rpm diesel race car
– Bentley Speed 8: Modern closed-cockpit prototypes look so nice without huge sharkfins (for safety)
My personal favorite has to be the earlier (prettier) Audi R18s, because diesel hybrids just seemed so futuristic and it was so cool being able to hear everything in the onboards. It also felt like race cars were advancing road car tech again.
The GT-R LM would be my choice. It’s such a clever and ingenious design from an aero standpoint. I wish they would have pursued it after Le Mans with a more conventional KERS system. I think it would have been a monster in the damp conditions.
“everyone else is still trying to make a deal. Mercedes has an outline for one”
Wait, Mercedes has some sort of deal with Trump?
OUR MERCEDES?!?! Did the incident with the F350 completely unhinge her?!? I mean, I know it was traumatic and everything, but, really?
Wait.
Benz.
Mercedes-BENZ.
Hardigree, you gotta stop doing this to me.
Given the seriously bad vibe of 2025 and most of the preceding decade I would not be terribly surprised.
Le Mans Car? It would be wrong of me not to mention Bentley but the Panhard LM64 is such an amazing thing, I suspect that Toecutter of the parish dreams about them regularly.
Love to go after someone for being a pedophile after I spent millions of dollars of my own money to elect said pedophile.
This whole feud will amount to a lot of nothing. I genuinely don’t think Donald likes Elon at all, but Elon’s money and social media cult are too important for the Republicans to cut ties with him. Trump’s handlers will force some kind of working relationship.
☝️
Neither ever liked each other. Each was a means to an end for the other. That’s why everyone so easily predicted the inevitable collapse of their partnership. What Trump wanted, and got, was obvious. What Musk wanted and did or didn’t get is highly debatable, and that’s why he’s so pissed. Musk got boned. Hard.
I do actually think that Elon liked Trump because he pissed off the people Elon didn’t like. It’s just that neither is terribly bright and both have massive egos.
Not a fan of “nothing ever happens” but like TACO, it’s been reliable so far (delta all the suffering overseas, deportations/kidnappings and removals to foreign prison camps, measles, and destruction of our scientific and technical capability, of course.)
Donnie likes Elon’s media profile and money, which is all leveraged on Tesla’s inflated share price. One fit of pique from Team Trump and it could all come crashing down.