The controversy started in a very Washington way: as a line item in a government spreadsheet buried on the State Department's website.
It appeared as if the State Department was taking steps to award Elon Musk's Tesla a $400 million government contract to buy armored electric vehicles to securely transport diplomats. The move to set in motion a lucrative contract to a company controlled by a high-profile ally of President Trump's seemed so bold it surprised even longtime observers of the norm-busting president.
When asked about it, the State Department issued a statement saying the purchase is now on hold with no plans of fulfilling the contract, pointing out that talks with Tesla began during the Biden administration.
But NPR has obtained a State Department document detailing that Biden's State Department planned to spend just $483,000 in the 2025 fiscal year on buying electric vehicles and $3 million for supporting equipment, like charging stations. It represented less than 1% of the hundreds of millions of dollars likely destined for Tesla vehicles after the Trump administration quietly revised a State Department procurement document.
The vast discrepancy in the numbers raises the question: Was it an error, or a deliberate action?
A former Biden White House official familiar with the State Department's plans told NPR the steps taken to advance $400 million worth of government business to Tesla appear to be intentional.
"I don't think this is a clerical error. It was likely someone who is new in [the] State [Department] who decided, 'OK, we're gonna do this with Tesla,'" said the former official, who was not authorized to speak about the matter.
The person said the State Department and Tesla had agreed during the Biden administration to conduct research about armoring electric vehicles, but no money had been set aside to purchase armored Teslas for the State Department. A total budget of $483,000 had been approved to buy light-duty EVs as possible State Department vehicles. That plan was moving forward as recently as November 2024.
The White House and Musk did not return multiple requests for comment.
In a statement to NPR on Monday, a State Department spokesperson said the $400 million figure was "an estimate," pointing out that it was in the early stages and was not yet a full contract, but rather a proposal "strictly to gather information."
The department spokesman added: "the Department of State has no intention to move forward with the solicitation."
In a Feb. 13 post on his social media platform, X, Musk, who is also a top White House official, said: "I'm pretty sure Tesla isn't getting $400M. No one mentioned it to me, at least."
After the original procurement document attracted widespread attention, NPR reported that the Trump administration appeared to have quietly edited the document, changing the phrase "armored Tesla" to the more generic "armored electric vehicles" without explanation. Eventually, the item vanished from the State Department's procurement document.
The document claims it was originally published in December, at the end of former President Joe Biden's term, but it does not appear in the Internet Archive for that month.
The $400 million item in the procurement document caused a stir. Since then, Trump officials have not answered why the State Department appeared to be taking steps to pursue an acquisition of electric vehicles from Tesla, with the company's stainless steel Cybertruck likely being the most suitable option for an armored vehicle. The proposed purchase amount would likely exceed what the entire federal government would spend on electric vehicles in 2025.
The prospect of such a purchase also puzzled security professionals who work with the State Department.
"I can't imagine why the government would ever put dignitaries in a Cybertruck," said Jim McGuffey, an armored car expert who does work with the State Department. "Compared to the other armored car companies out there, it just wouldn't make any sense."
State Department abandons Tesla plan after publicity
The potential purchase of armored Teslas emerged as Tesla CEO Musk has become one of the most influential officials in the White House, leading a cost-cutting initiative that has swept across the federal government.
Musk's team has orchestrated the firings of tens of thousands of career government workers, and tried to dismantle entire agencies. Ethics experts have grown concerned about how Musk could use his influence to benefit one of his six companies. Trump has vowed to remove Musk from any government matters that could affect one of his firms, even though Musk is already shaking up agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that could have presented a regulatory headache for the billionaire.
The idea that the Trump administration would support a $400 million contract to buy Teslas would seem to run counter to Trump's opposition to electric vehicles. Trump has revoked Biden's executive orders backing funding and infrastructure for EVs, one of which sought to encourage the federal government to acquire electric vehicles.
Experts interviewed for this story raised this possibility: Trump's State Department may have hoped to replace some or all of the department's fleet of armored cars and SUVs with Teslas, with the most fitting model likely being the Cybertruck, a large and angular vehicle that began deliveries in 2023. Musk has called it a "futuristic battle tank."
Replacing whole State Department fleet with Teslas? 'It's possible'
Security experts and former federal officials said $400 million would likely cover the purchasing and "up-armoring" of thousands of Cybertrucks.
According to the State Department document reviewed by NPR, there are about 3,000 armored cars and SUVs around the world that are used to transport diplomats, VIPs and other officials working for the State Department.
If every one of those vehicles was replaced with a new Cybertruck, which costs around $80,000 for an entry-level model, the bill would come out to about $250 million. The vehicles would then need to go through a process known as "up-armoring," which can cost tens of thousands of dollars per car. Multiply those costs by the size of the State Department's entire fleet and experts said $400 million would likely be a ballpark cost.
"It's possible, diplomatic-level armoring starts in the mid-$70,000s," said Mark Burton, chief executive of Armormax, a Utah firm that installs bulletproof glass and other security-enhancing modifications to vehicles. "We're doing EVs all the time," he said. "We've done Rivians, [Tesla] Model S and Cybertrucks."
Yet as of July 2024, when the State Department document was submitted to the White House, the department's officials had serious reservations about converting its fleet to electric vehicles.
Among the issues was identifying an electric vehicle durable enough to be "armored up," which would require securing the vehicle's battery against something that could cause the battery to explode or catch fire, the State Department officials wrote. The officials wrote that "finding an electric vehicle that can hold the weight of armor and have viable range for protection driving are other initial challenges."
Indeed, security industry experts say fully armoring a vehicle can add something like 1,000 pounds of weight. A Cybertruck already weighs around 7,000 pounds. The added armor could add stress to the entire vehicle and significantly reduce the electric vehicle's range, a potential safety concern, especially in countries with limited EV charging infrastructure.
In a now-famous early demo of the Cybertruck, in 2019, Musk wanted to show a live crowd that the car was "bulletproof" and had Tesla's chief designer throw a metal ball at one of its windows. He did, and the glass smashed.
"Well, maybe that was a little too hard," Musk said.
Diplomats in Cybertrucks in Karachi and Mogadishu? Not likely, says former U.S. official
With those concerns in mind, the State Department officials in the agency's document outlined a gradual timeline, writing it hoped to test the first electric vehicles prototypes in 2026, before discussion of wider adoption would begin.
But the Trump administration's 2025 procurement document was on a far more aggressive timetable, noting it planned to begin accepting bids for the $400 million armored electric vehicle order this May, with the goal of completing a purchase by September.
When Michael Evanoff saw that figure, he was instantly skeptical.
Evanoff, a former senior State Department diplomatic security official with 40 years of experience, said the gold standard for diplomatic security are vehicles that are manufactured from the ground up with armor, not with armor added on later. Carmakers including Mercedes, BMW and GM offer such armored models. In fact, the State Department awarded GM a $300 million contract for armored SUVs in 2023.
A Cybertruck, he said, would not fit the bill.
"It would be hard for a Cybertruck to survive in a hostile environment,"said Evanoff, pointing to potential problems arising from the vehicle's weight after being modified with armor and battery life issues. "You're not going to see diplomats in Cybertrucks in Karachi and Mogadishu."
Have information you want to share about the ongoing changes across the federal government? Bobby Allyn is available via the encrypted messaging app Signal at ballyn.77
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