Newsom slams Musk, blames Trump for EV slowdown

• TOI Tech

• Published On Mar 27, 2026 at 09:26 AM IST

Newsom blames Musk’s EV pullback and Trump policies for weakening US clean energy leadership.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom has criticised Elon Musk, accusing the Tesla CEO of handing the electric vehicle (EV) market to China but he saved his sharpest criticism for President Donald Trump, saying that his administration is systematically dismantling America’s clean energy future. According to a report by Axios, Newsom opened his comments with a compliment, comparing Musk to Thomas Edison, one of history’s greatest inventors. But then came the punch.“It breaks my heart,” Newsom said in a new episode of The Axios Show, calling Musk “one of the great disappointments” of his generation. The argument is straightforward: Musk is the man who built America’s electric vehicle industry almost from scratch. And now, by pivoting Tesla‘s focus toward robotics and artificial intelligence, Newsom believes Musk is walking away from the very market he created, essentially leaving the door open for China.Newsom argues that Musk’s retreat has consequences for American supply chains, national security and the long-term future of auto manufacturing in the US – calling the move “the greatest own goal” of the next decade.

For Newson the ‘Bigger Target’ is Trump

While Newsom criticised Musk but he was clear about where he believes the deeper responsibility lies.“I think this is Trump, not just Elon Musk,” the governor said, pointing to the Trump administration’s rollback of federal EV incentives, mandates and support for renewable energy. According to the report, he argued that while Musk may be stepping back from EVs, it is Washington’s policies that are actively affecting the infrastructure needed for America to compete.Newsom also pointed to a ‘contradiction’ at the heart of Musk’s current stance. Despite publicly distancing himself from California, Musk continues to benefit from California’s research and development tax credits, Newsom said that it was California’s regulatory environment that created the conditions for Musk to become “a multibillionaire, maybe trillionaire” in the first place. Now, Newsom says, Musk is “turning his back” on the state that helped make him.