Tesla News: Trump Gives Strange Endorsement Of CEO Elon Musk, Car Company Continues Growth

President Trump praised Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday in an interview with CNBC.

Trump, who was attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said that Musk “is one of our great geniuses and we have to protect our genius.”

“You know, we have to protect Thomas Edison and we have to protect all of these people that came up with originally the light bulb and the wheel and all of these things. And he’s one of our very smart people and we want to cherish those people,” Trump continued. He also praised Musk’s SpaceX company, saying Musk “does good at rockets, too.”

It’s unclear whether Trump realizes that Musk has not pledged to vote for him in the 2020 elections.

Musk has previously said that he supports Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. The Tesla CEO agrees with Yang’s proposal to give every U.S. citizen $1,000 a month, which is referred to as the “freedom dividend.”

Prior to the 2016 election, Musk insinuated that Trump’s character reflects poorly on the United States.

“I feel a bit stronger that [Trump] is not the right guy,” Musk told CNBC at the time. “He doesn’t seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States.”

When Trump announced that the United States was leaving the Paris Agreement in 2017, Musk blasted the decision. “Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world,” Musk said. He has said that his political views are “moderate,” but that humanitarian issues are “extremely important” for him.

Meanwhile, Tesla has been experiencing unprecedented success, with the company reporting strong numbers in the third quarter of 2019. The company has sped past $100 billion in market capitalization, with Toyota Motor Corp. the only automobile company with a higher market value.

The company is also expanding globally, opening a factory in Shanghai last year. Tesla also plans to construct a factory near Berlin this year. In addition, Tesla is expanding its U.S. operations, with residents in Michigan soon able to purchase the company’s electric cars.