The MeidasTouch Podcast - Musk Gets Instant Karma as Trump Tariffs Screw Him

Episode Date: April 13, 2025

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Trump’s tarrifs and policies screwing over Elon Musk as Trump’s cabinet start to turn against Musk as well.  Thanks to Udacity: For 40% OFF your order, head to Udacity.com/meidas and use promo code: MEIDAS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are very few things that you can be certain of in life. But you can always be sure the sun will rise each morning. You can bet your bottom dollar that you'll always need air to breathe and water to drink. And, of course, you can rest assured that with Public Mobile's 5G subscription phone plans, you'll pay the same thing every month. With all of the mysteries that life has to offer, a few certainties can really go a long way. Subscribe today for the peace of mind you've been searching for. Public Mobile. Different is calling. What's better than a well-marbled

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It always comes for you when after destroying our federal government in a hostile takeover he did with Donald Trump gleefully, as Rolling Stones aptly put it in a recent headline, laughing as he calls Social Security a Ponzi scheme. Now, Elon Musk's biggest foreign market, China, is saying bye-bye, Elon. China has placed 125% retaliatory tariffs against the United States. In response to Trump placing 145% tariffs on China, China called Trump's levies against China laughable. China continues to mock the United States for Trump's reckless tariff regime. And now Elon Musk finds himself unable to sell Teslas to essentially his biggest market outside of the U.S. Also,

Europe boycotting Teslas, the amount of Tes's being sold in Europe, fractions of what it once was. Similarly, here in the United States, we're seeing a massive drop in Tesla sales. And of course, you all know about the Tesla protests, which seem to get bigger every single weekend. Let's take a look at what's going on over here. As Fortune puts it, Trump tariffs backfire on Elon Musk as Tesla pulls U.S.-built models from China. Tesla has stopped taking orders for the Model S and Model X in China, which now face retaliatory tariffs in the amount of 125% on import duties levied by Beijing. So the local customers are only able to choose from new cars still in inventory.

You know which company is doing really good right now? The Chinese electric vehicle company BYD. BYD shares are soaring and roaring right now. And also China and Europe are making deals together to bring Chinese electric vehicles into the European market. So as Elon Musk's Tesla share decreases, we're now going to see BYD and China's electric vehicles as China's actually investing in clean energy, green energy, which the MAGA Republicans here in the United States call the Green New Scam. And Donald Trump mocked during his campaign. Now the chickens have come

home to roost, Donald and Elon Musk, with what's going on here. Now, Elon Musk apparently was begging, begging the Trump regime not to do these tariffs on China and elsewhere, which the Trump regime did not listen to. Also, we're seeing other members of the Trump cabinet seem to turn against Elon Musk. They're also leaking out how annoying they think Elon is, how they despise him, and how they just want him out and that he's just a very annoying person. Let me share this clip with you where Elon Musk says that he hopes the US and Europe move to a zero tariff situation. Really, Elon, you've enabled this and now you're getting your karma. You're just desserts. Here, play this clip.

And I'm hopeful, for example, with the tariffs that at the end of the day, I hope it is agreed that both Europe and the United States should move, ideally, in my view, to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America. And that would be my, that's what i hope i hope occurs um and also uh more freedom of people to move between europe and north america if they wish if they wish to work in europe or wish to work in america they should be allowed to do so in my view um so that that has certainly been my advice to the president now there's a feud that has been brewing between Elon Musk and Peter Navarro. Peter Navarro is one of Donald Trump's top economic advisors. And Navarro's been going on Fox and making his rounds on other right-wing propaganda media, saying that Elon Musk really isn't a car manufacturer.

He's just a salesman, Navarro says. He's just someone who sells cars. Play this clip. It was interesting to hear Elon Musk at the beginning talk about his zero tariff zone with Europe. He doesn't understand that. And the thing that's, I think, important about Elon to understand, he sells cars. That's what he does.

And if you look, for example, at the Tesla factories in Texas, they're assembly plants and they get a lot of their content from China, Mexico, Japan, and Taiwan and elsewhere. So then Elon Musk responded by calling Navarro a moron. Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false. Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks. By any definition whatsoever, Tesla is the most vertically integrated auto manufacturer in America with the highest percentage of U.S. content. Navarro should ask the fake expert he invented, Ron Vera. And then Elon Musk started calling Peter Navarro, Peter, our word repeatedly over and over again. This is from that Rolling Stones article that I referenced before, which was basically titled Inside Elon Musk's Gleeful Destruction of the Government. Here's what it says.

It says the following, quote, I have been in the same room with Elon and he always tries to be funny and he's not funny, like at all, says a senior Trump administration official. Quote, he makes these jokes and a little asides and smiles and then looks almost hurt if you don't lap up his humor. I keep using the word annoying. A lot of people have to deal with him, do, but the word doesn't do the situation justice. Elon just thinks he's smarter than everyone else in the room and acts like it, even when it's clear he doesn't know what he's talking about. Musk has gnawed at the patience of an array of high-ranking administration officials to the point that, according to this official and two others, Trump lieutenants have walked out of meetings and earnestly asked one another if they thought Musk was high. Administration officials joked to one another about subjecting Musk to mandatory drug testing, which Musk himself said would be a great idea for federal employees.

A lawyer for Musk has said that he's regularly and randomly drug tested at SpaceX and has never failed the test. Quote, talking to the guy is sometimes like listening to a really rusty nail on a chalkboard, says the senior Trump administration official, who adds that Musk is not much of a team player either. He's just the most irritating person I've ever had to deal with. And that is saying something, especially someone who works for Donald Trump. That is saying something. Want to show this as well. Here's the audio of Elon Musk saying during his telephone town hall a while back that electing Trump would bring temporary hardship and pain. Although I'm not sure Elon Musk expected to bring himself pain. But as I said at the beginning, karma comes for everyone.

And Elon Musk played this clip. We have to reduce spending to live within our means. And. in our means. And yeah, that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity. It seems like you hear about a new round of layoffs every day. So what's the best way to dodge the next round? Well, you can get the skills that companies need, so you make yourself indispensable. This podcast is sponsored by Udacity. Want to learn skills that command high salaries? Udacity is an online learning platform with courses in AI, data, programming, and more. When you learn with Udacity, you're not just passively watching videos or reading articles.

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to give tailored feedback on my projects. It creates a really personalized learning experience. When you have a certification from Udacity, recruiters and employers take notice. So for a better job, better salary, and better skills, check out Udacity today. The tech field is always evolving, and you should be too. You can try Udacity risk-free for seven days. Head to udacity.com slash Midas and use code Midas for 40% off your order. Once again, that's Udacity.com backslash Midas for 40% off and make sure that you use my promo code Midas so they know that I sent you. Should also be noted that Tesla's, not only are Tesla's Tesla sales plunging, but we're seeing gains in GM and other automakers. Overall sales of electric vehicles are actually

rising about 11% in the first three months of the year as traditional car makers offer new models. And that's the leakage of people who had Teslas before saying, I can't be caught driving one of these things. At this point, it is a sign of shame based on what Elon Musk has done to the brand. Car buyers are moving away from Teslas and towards models like General Motors, Chevrolet Equinox electric vehicle, which started around $35,000, and other automobiles like that. Tesla sales plunged 76% in Germany last month. China, Europe, as I mentioned before, working together, which looks like it's going to help BYD. The BYD stock is soaring. And let me show you this. This is Trump's transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, who got famous on the

Real World Road Rules Challenge. And here he seems to be almost blaming Elon Musk and Doge for cuts. No, he doesn't seem he is. After multiple fatal aircraft crashes. Play this clip. But I want to talk about Doge for a second. Okay, I know there's been a lot of people get, there's been some freak out, there's been some concern, there's been a lot of emotion. And I would just tell you, do I want to make our government more efficient? Do I want to be able to do a little more with a little less? Because then I put more money into the great work that we do. Yeah, I want to do that. But you can't do that without good people, right? And so though I want us to be more efficient, I also look, and as I think of Doge cutting things, I don't know about that elsewhere, but we actually build things here.

You can't cut your way to a new road. You can't cut your way to a new bridge. You can't cut your way into a new air traffic control system. So we're actually going to build in this department. And if I don't and you don't all build with me, the president's going to come back in probably four months and go, where are the roads? Where are the bridges? Where's the airspace revamp? And he's going to give us a very hard time. And so let me there was the helicopter crash this weekend, airplanes clipping each other. He was speaking in front of the federal aviation. That was Trump's transportation secretary speaking in front of the FAA there.

Share this with you, a scoop from Wired. So I guess this is Elon Musk's last grasp here. So one of the things that Musk is trying to do is to make X, his social media platform, which used to be Twitter, the main form of communication by the government with people. So, for example, and Wired got this scoop, the Social Security Administration, SSA, will be shifting its public communication exclusively to X, sources tell Wired. This comes as the agency plans to cut its regional office workforce by roughly 90%. So let me be very clear. They're cutting the regional social security office workforce by 90%. But if seniors want to now find out about issues regarding their benefits or what to do. Apparently, one of the things that

we're learning about here is seniors will have to what? Join X. They'll have to join the platform right now. Seriously, in any event, that's Elon Musk's last grasp here, but karma has definitely come from. Oh, you want to see what BYD looks like? This is from CarGurus UK. They've got a YouTube channel and here they go into the BYD car to show what it's like. Here, play this clip. The second I sat in it, what astonishes me is that this feels in every respect, pretty much as good as an Audi or BMW or Mercedes inside. Compared to a Model S, the interior on this, substantially better in terms of its aesthetic, I believe, and also

its perceived quality. Well, there you have it, folks. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 5 million subscribers. New Midas merch drop. Check out the latest pro-democracy sticker packs, t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, and more all at store.midastouch.com.