The US Department of State has removed the name of Tesla from a list of planned purchases, after an earlier version of the list said it would spend $400m buying new electric armoured vehicles, even as the carmaker’s boss, Elon Musk, leads efforts to slash government spending under Donald Trump.
A procurement forecast produced by the department showed the $400m (£320m) proposed spending on “armoured Tesla (production units)” in December. The most likely Tesla model was the Cybertruck, the company’s electric pickup, given Musk’s claims that the vehicle is bulletproof.
However, a spokesperson for the department said the document was incorrect, and should have been a generic entry reading “electric vehicle manufacturer”. The department said the order was on hold.
Nevertheless, the listing raises the possibility of more conflicts of interest for Musk, who is one of the biggest beneficiaries of US government contracts through the companies he controls.
Musk’s stake in Tesla accounts for the bulk of his $383bn wealth, but his rocket company, SpaceX, is the most important contractor providing space launch services to the US government.
Yet Trump has also put Musk in charge of the so-called department of government efficiency, or Doge, its name deriving from an internet dog meme. Musk has set about gutting government departments he has accused – without providing substantiated evidence – of huge amounts of fraud and waste. Doge’s efforts have been criticised as illegal by many experts, who have said it is part of a string of actions by the Trump administration that appear to disregard the US constitution.
Musk appeared to confirm the procurement plans on Thursday in a post on X, the social network he also owns, although he suggested that the sum the company could receive may be lower. Other contractors could be involved in upgrading vehicles, depending on the level of protection required.
Musk wrote: “I’m pretty sure Tesla isn’t getting $400m. No one mentioned it to me, at least.”
Musk was asked about the possibility of conflicts of interest on Tuesday, before the revelation of the proposed armoured vehicle spending. Speaking to reporters in the White House’s Oval Office, he dismissed those concerns, claiming that his actions in cutting government spending were transparent.
“All of our actions are fully public,” Musk said when asked about conflicts of interest, according to CNN. “So if you see anything like, ‘Elon, there may be a conflict there,’ it’s not like people are going to be shy about it. They are going to say it immediately.”
The Department of State forecast document suggested the Tesla contract would be awarded at the end of September. It listed the procurement as in the “planning” phase.
The government spokesperson said the previous administration under Joe Biden had put out a request for armoured electric vehicles, but only one unnamed company had responded.
The next step in the process would have been sending out an official solicitation to vehicle manufacturers to bid. However, the spokesperson said the solicitation was on hold and there were no plans to issue it.
The department website contains two versions of the forecast document. The first showed the Tesla planned procurement, entered on 13 December 2024, according to the document. That was a month after Trump’s election, but before he took office.
However, another version showed the entry was “modified” on Wednesday evening, apparently after the procurement was first reported by Drop Site News, an independent outlet. That entry was identical to the previous version except that the reference to “Tesla” was removed. Instead, it said the department would procure “armoured electric vehicles”, without referencing a brand name.
The US government regularly procures armoured vehicles. The same procurement document contained entries for an “armoured sedan” and “armoured EV (not sedan)” made by unnamed manufacturers, plus “armoured BMW X5/X7”. Those contracts were valued at $50m, $40m and $40m respectively.
Tesla was approached for comment.
