Former President Donald Trump hasn’t been shy about his disdain for EVs. After rumors that Elon Musk is donating $45 million to Trump’s re-election campaign–every monthy–Trump candidly told a rally, “I have no choice..I’m for electric cars.” Then an interviewer gave Donald Trump a custom Tesla Cybertruck. The candidate eagerly climbed aboard, cranked up the radio, and even danced a bit.

In the past, President Trump has had some biting criticism of EVs. He is quick to say, “They don’t go far, they cost a fortune.” He’s also said the EV industry is “lunacy” and its supporters should “rot in hell.” (The Guardian). These sorts of comments usually get a big cheer at his rallies. Unfortunately, some of his claims have been misleading.

According to FactCheck.org, Trump’s falsities have included a claims that EVs can only “drive for 15 minutes before you have to get a charge.” He also claimed Biden “has dictated that nearly 70% of all cars” be EVs in a decade. But the only law he could be referring to is decided on the state level. Finally, he said Ford expects to lose $4.5 billion on EVs. It’s unclear where he came up with this number. Ford has announced it expects to recoup its electric vehicle R&D costs by the end of 2026.

On the other hand, both the New York Times and Jalopnik erroneously reported that Trump planned to stop all electric car sales. The articles included a snippet of a quote about electric vehicles engineered in China and assembled in Mexico–which Donald Trump has promised he would block from being imported to the U.S.

Elon Musk–once an Obama donor–tweeted a video of the assassination attempt on Trump with the caption, “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.” The Wall Street Journal reported Elon Musk was committing $180 million in payments of $45 million a month to Trump’s campaign. Elon Musk has since denied this exact figure, though he founded a Super PAC wealthy tech industry members are using to donate to Trump.

What’s intriguing is the position this puts candidate Trump into. His base is used to him bashing EVs. So he came out and candidly told a rally, “I’m for electric cars, I have to be because Elon endorsed me very strongly.” He admitted that EVs are suitable for a “small slice” of the population and argued, “you want every type of car imaginable.”

Tesla’s shareholders asked Elon Musk if second Trump term would be good for the company. The CEO joked, “I can be persuasive.” He detailed his relationship with President Trump, whose administration he advised.

“I mean, I have had some conversations with him and he just called me out of the blue for no reason, I don’t know why, but he does…And it’s like he’s very nice when he calls and I was like, ‘electric cars, I think are pretty good for the future. America is the leader in electric cars, buy American stuff.’ And I think he actually – a lot of his friends now have Teslas and they all love it. And he’s a huge fan of the Cybertruck. So I think those may be contributing factors, yeah.”

Elon Musk

So that brings us to Trump’s new Tesla Cybertruck. As a candidate, Trump appears to be targeting a younger demographic. He did a long livestream interview with 23-year-old internet personality Adin Ross. President Trump reversed his position on TikTok, promising to “keep TikTok going” though he’s previously threatened to ban the Chinese-owned app. He also busted out his signature fist-pump dance move.

Then the interviewer took Trump outside to present him with a gift. It turned out to be a Tesla Cybertruck with custom decals. On the hood is “Make America Great Again” and the door has the iconic picture of President Trump holding his fist in the air immediately after the assassination attempt.

Trump’s reaction wasn’t “That’s a Tesla” or “That’s a Cybertruck.” Instead, he said “Wow! That’s an Elon.” The two climbed inside where Donald Trump’s playlist was already queued up and they listened to “California Dreaming.” It’s unclear what will become of Donald Trump’s Cybertruck because with an $80k MSRP, it exceeds the $3,300 campaign contribution limit–which includes presents. (Super PACs are a legal loophole because they are independent organization not owned by a candidate). Like many similar gifts, Donald Trump may be forced to give it back or donate it to charity.