This is so incredibly, goofily stupid—a slapstick level of dumbass, self-defeating, wasteful procurement even if it’s somehow not as corrupt as it looks—but I suspect absolutely no one is going to prevent it from happening. What an embarrassment. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/u... - ThreadSky

nycsouthpaw.bsky.social • 10 days ago

This is so incredibly, goofily stupid—a slapstick level of dumbass, self-defeating, wasteful procurement even if it’s somehow not as corrupt as it looks—but I suspect absolutely no one is going to prevent it from happening. What an embarrassment. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/us/politics/trump-tesla-musk-cybertruck.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Comments

alanpi.bsky.social•10 days ago

Nazi Clyde trying to save his falling empire...

undinium.bsky.social•9 days ago

The cars you can end with a heap of water? These cars?! 😂
What a mess....

labradorlife.bsky.social•10 days ago

But THAT'S not a waste of money. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

northcarolinats.bsky.social•9 days ago

Really takes the pressure off the security teams if they can safely assume that diplomats will die in Cybertruck fires before they can be assassinated

karina916.bsky.social•9 days ago

Just cut benefits for the poor to pay for this.

rion84.bsky.social•10 days ago

It’s nuts, very embarrassing

jegath.bsky.social•9 days ago

😡😡😡

i-am-the-storm.bsky.social•9 days ago

President Elmo clearly handling his own conflicts of interest…

optimist-press.bsky.social•10 days ago

I think we need one of these.

esquamulose.bsky.social•10 days ago

He's just trying to make spray-painting a dick on them a federal crime

stevie49.bsky.social•8 days ago

To say nothing of how it looks. The optics are so bad.

deadseriousrick.bsky.social•10 days ago

100% this is going to be recalled Model 3s.

tr3vin.bsky.social•10 days ago

Good news for the Canadians, though. They will win with just a bit of tree sap.

therhythm.bsky.social•9 days ago

We have snow. Good luck getting Tesla's revamped Pontiac Aztecs to roll through anything more than a light dusting.

elvis15.bsky.social•9 days ago

I'm sure we could field an army of raccoons (maybe supplemented with beavers and Canadian geese?) that would take them down as well.

gremlyn27.bsky.social•10 days ago

In the Dune 2000 computer game, the Harkonnens had something called a devestator. That was a tank which could be driven into an enemy camp, do a lot of damage before being made to explode and cause maximum carnage.

In his gaming, has Musk been taking tips from the baddies on vehicle design?

ettorethechef.bsky.social•9 days ago

Oh I remember that beast of a tank. Cool RTS

jsharp1436.bsky.social•10 days ago

The moment he moves against the Military Industrial Complex, his fate will be sealed.

The don't take prisoners.

moviemave.bsky.social•9 days ago

Are they going to use them against Americans Waste of money yes Applications frightening ?

psa-nderson.bsky.social•9 days ago

Moronic RAW Oligarchy in it's purest form.
ABSOLUTE Quid Pro Quo.
Looks like MUSK buying the DICK TATER the top Exec job was a pretty good investment after all.

215poundsonthemoon.bsky.social•10 days ago

Confirmed time and time again.

shoncooper.bsky.social•9 days ago

All the better to see you (from a Russian drone) with my dear.

bygonebegotrisk.bsky.social•10 days ago

What do you want to bet this will end up being "free Teslas for deputized Proud Boys to drive around rounding up 'illegals'"?

captainmorgan34.bsky.social•10 days ago

Elon can oligargle these nuts

itsnotbread.bsky.social•9 days ago

Since they love putin so much, they should give them to the Russian army.

yesbiscuit.bsky.social•9 days ago

After the USAID funding freeze, patients had to be carried out of hospitals that were shut down. Some have died. Abandoned buildings are being used by people to give birth. Babies are being born with HIV. People are walking around with medical devices implanted in their bodies and no monitoring.

thekasey.bsky.social•9 days ago

What the fuck for? To see them blow up and cause a lot of headaches for the people that have to drive them?

momsrule.bsky.social•10 days ago

Explosive reporting. 😁

jeanpauldelier.bsky.social•9 days ago

@nytimes.com is vile … they defended and promoted Trump

scorpiopibble.bsky.social•10 days ago

So not only do troops receive less protection "armor" that couldn't stop a brick. And a potential explosion and fire hazard. But they hafta look like fuckin dorks while doin it? Well if their oaths didn't put the military on the people's side... this will.

celticmoonllc.bsky.social•10 days ago

I think everyone in the USA needs to sue Elon "Swasticar" Musk for EVERY cent he is worth for stealing our private data and not just ss#s but private medical data as well!

celticmoonllc.bsky.social•10 days ago

Those ugly tin cans are modeled by his physical ugliness 🤢🤮

lmc018.bsky.social•9 days ago

The f corruption.

vae12.bsky.social•9 days ago

It’s criminal

bayoka.bsky.social•9 days ago

Tesla’s battery can’t handle that load and won’t for a decade. Q2/Q3 deliveries = volatility for TSLA. But a $400M story—true or not—keeps Tesla’s stock inflated for now.

cayisblue.bsky.social•10 days ago

Maybe they'll all explode with their precious cargo.

evien.bsky.social•10 days ago

These things were pulled off the fucking market for sucking, what an absolute joke. The spectacular falling out of these two goons cannot happen fast enough.

drunemeton.bsky.social•10 days ago

Someone had to buy them. Looks like it’s We the People.
🤮🤢🤮🤢🤮

uzzamodea.bsky.social•10 days ago

No one is buying the villain's death machine, so everyone will buy the villain's death machine.

dglancaster.bsky.social•10 days ago

Many years ago, when my father was with a Cnd helicopter squadron, the US tried to retrofit a Huey with bullet-proof plates. It worked fantastic but was so heavy, it was effectively useless.

I am expecting worse results from this. There is no way to deflect explosive force from underneath.

rmz1961.bsky.social•9 days ago

It is an embarrassment. Watch others buy it sucking up to him.

evilbrasil.bsky.social•9 days ago

No-one would know his name without government handouts.

nateofsun.bsky.social•10 days ago

Brazen, obviously they think they can get away with anything and maybe they can

nateofsun.bsky.social•10 days ago

Straight up pay to play

petergray.bsky.social•10 days ago

Musk’s, and Trump’s, real motivation in all this laid bare. With one small initial example. Grift, baby, grift!

socalsarcasm.bsky.social•10 days ago

What the fucking fuckitty actual fuck?

shoulderdevil.bsky.social•10 days ago

It's gonna be the pathetic cherry on top when Musk's exit finally comes over the thing's shit build quality causing embarrassing problems for the government.

tsotate.bsky.social•9 days ago

And on his way out the door to a non-extradition country, he remotely bricks all of them with an over-the-air software patch.

The only thing less safe than buying hardware from Tesla is also getting the software that runs it from Tesla.

badexampleman.bsky.social•10 days ago

Wait'll a couple of ambassadors get immolated when their swasticar Pintos and they can't open the doors.

notsillylikesome.bsky.social•10 days ago

They must be at least slightly embarrassed, having now changed the line item from Tesla's to "EVs"

clifflegend.bsky.social•10 days ago

Every Democrat should not stop with this and make the media include it in every doge related question

clifflegend.bsky.social•10 days ago

@schumer.senate.gov with blinking lights on: this way. Fuck eggs. This is a scandal

wanitap.bsky.social•10 days ago

Winning!!

clevernickname23.bsky.social•10 days ago

This is the kind of thing intel analysts used to flag in Soviet republics as a way to gauge corruption and military/police spending priorities.

a2-abd.bsky.social•9 days ago

Guess what- the $400mil will land in Musk bank account, but you will never see the Tesla cars on the roads cuz it’s all a scam, a ruse to funnel $$ from Treasury into Musk pocket. Perhaps one or two imploding Tesla trucks for show and that’s it! Take this post to the bank cuz I’ll bet on it!

hartfield01.bsky.social•10 days ago

Truth!! How many did the repugs budget proposed to buy❓❓❓❓❓❓

johnrya.bsky.social•9 days ago

It’s easily challenged! This purchase has no basis, no competitive advantages whatsoever and wasn’t made via the proper procurement bidding process. Call it what it is: Payback for Elon after he dumped $300 million backing Trump and now he’s reaping the benefits including his legal cases disappear.

jav1.bsky.social•9 days ago

$400 million dollars of tax payers money going right down the pisser with these pieces of junk. Where’s DOGE when you need them? Oh, silly me 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️

jazzed13.bsky.social•10 days ago

This is WASTE for sure... not paying taxes for this shit which I no one in government should need 🤬

pauleichhorn.bsky.social•10 days ago

Because, of course, any 3rd world country we would send armed forces to would just be loaded with Tesla charging stations.
Republican corruption.

davesisley.bsky.social•10 days ago

starting a new hash tag:

#these_fucking_guys

naughtymarietta.bsky.social•9 days ago

They absolutely have to. It's why Trump is sitting behind the Resolute Desk. The kings of quid pro quo who actually were corrupt enough to make it work.

inknpaint.bsky.social•10 days ago

clearly that haven't watched the videos of buyers remorse and failures

summer-b.bsky.social•10 days ago

There’s not if. It’s corruption.

oceansfourlife.bsky.social•10 days ago

This is so right in your face I could throw up. 🤮

andrewliu.bsky.social•10 days ago

Armor on a vehicle 17 times more likely to catch fire than a Ford Pinto. Electric fires too. What could go wrong.

jazzyminx.bsky.social•9 days ago

Any yet the Dems won’t know how to message on this corruption.

fancynancy33.bsky.social•9 days ago

It’s a return on his investment.
The Art of Quid Pro Quo

squindar.bsky.social•10 days ago

the vehicles fall apart driving out of the factory. How will they add another 1500 pounds of "armor" to a 10k pound vehicle & think it's going to actually roll down the road? And what will the range between charges be? 30 miles? 50 miles?

pisst.bsky.social•9 days ago

spencerdow.bsky.social•10 days ago

Elon settles $10M into Donald's pocket from that lawsuit...
Then Donald settles $400M from our pockets into Elon's.

PAY-TO-PLAY

misskkitty.bsky.social•10 days ago

Cutting waste in the government and draining the swamp is going according to plan.

kdbyproxy.bsky.social•10 days ago

I hope there's pressure for release of the Tesla contract, to see (without compromising security) performance standards and warranties so they can be compared to the same in other contacts.

lynnbrenner.bsky.social•9 days ago

We thought the self-dealing in Trump 1.0 was outrageous, but Musk’s brazen greed and hypocrisy is stunning. Gift article: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/us/politics/trump-tesla-musk-cybertruck.html?unlocked_article_code=1.wk4.JcQ_.U-F5HXjvXaNA&smid=url-share

nobadcoffee.bsky.social•10 days ago

This would be funny if it weren't so disgusting

pinkberryga.bsky.social•9 days ago

My grandma had a saying when one of my brothers was into something that would eventually do serious harm... "We need to sour the milk. That boy is stuck on that mess, like a toddler on his momma's tit."

We need to sour the milk for the Russian and car salesman.

twitterrefugee63.bsky.social•9 days ago

What military wants an armored car that runs on electricity. While you need to supply gas to armored vehicles, you can gas them up in two minutes….or wait a couple of hours and charging stations are ubiquitous on a battlefield. This is so stupid on so many levels

jeffrybazooka.bsky.social•9 days ago

Even taking the time to place your cybertruck into Car Wash Mode will not protect your warranty.
You must lovingly hand wash your cybertruck, caressing it with a special nano-fiber cloth, only $499 per 6-pack.
No water!
Tesla has filed paperwork for copyright on AIR WASH.
Allegedly.

azaffle.bsky.social•10 days ago

Why do you think he paid so much for the presidency?

cgak.bsky.social•10 days ago

Makes sense, it’s both a bomb, and a vehicle

tabb1.bsky.social•10 days ago

Daylight, televised robbery. Forget conflict of interest. This is in our faces money grab. No excuses.

shanemcoyle.bsky.social•10 days ago

A couple of billion dollars in Pentagon money and kickbacks, this thing could really work in 20 years

cornpopagogo.bsky.social•9 days ago

I think it is built strong enough you could mount and operate a T-Shirt cannon from it.

ctphipps.bsky.social•9 days ago

I do admit, the cybertrucks would look absolutely cool exploding in chase sequences where they represent the fascist authoritarian government going after Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne Moss.

hndsmcelt.bsky.social•10 days ago

Wait until Tesla gets the massive contract for building huge portable superchargers that run on diesel and trucks to move the diesel to the worksite. Because you know efficiency.

coste1costello.bsky.social•9 days ago

sk07.bsky.social•9 days ago

Such blatant corruption, would love to see those corruption index rankings now and see if there is subsequent government asset rating drops.

auntlindaelizabeth.bsky.social•10 days ago

The guy has to unload those death traps somewhere

graehall.bsky.social•10 days ago

The tick that is musk further burrowing into the government to take even more money from taxpayer funded services it for his poorly considered swasticar

davehaskell.bsky.social•9 days ago

Anyone else thinking that this isn't just about corruption and making money but ALSO holding the government hostage by literally holding government officials hostage in his death contraptions?

marcinva.bsky.social•9 days ago

This is kind of the perfect way to identify political appointees of the State Department though. I'm sure the Palestinians who they displace in Gaza won't make these a target or anything

justmeanybody.bsky.social•10 days ago

How many charging stations were there in Iraq?
Since we are invading Gaza how many there?

yendorcire.bsky.social•10 days ago

I hope America connects the dots to eliminating life saving programs he labels corruption to him being awarded the most worthless contract in the history of fuck him straight to hell.

sadieisfire.bsky.social•10 days ago

Tesla bailout

georgejohnston.bsky.social•10 days ago

The armor won't save the Swasticar from self-immolating.

seasidechic.bsky.social•10 days ago

One of the tesla trucks pulled up next to my car at stop light and my first thought was, it reminds me of my dishwasher that shows every finger print.

mbdrapier.bsky.social•9 days ago

Can the Democratic Party buy advertising on the side of these things? Maybe they should make an offer...

n83z01qbui.bsky.social•10 days ago

#MoronMusk #ElonFungus

endeavorja.bsky.social•10 days ago

The corruptible is corrupting. The dishonorable is dishonoring. The nefariousness of it all.

mkd55.bsky.social•10 days ago

Oh fantastic, so our troops not only face our enemies on the battlefield, but they are going to be burned alive in these dumpster trucks.

kimmiser.bsky.social•9 days ago

Is he going to have backdoor control of all of these vehicles too?

wendywamsley.bsky.social•9 days ago

Of course.

markjd84.bsky.social•10 days ago

Any journo questioning musk about this needs to follow up with 'but your cars are known to be very poor quality?'

wenleh.bsky.social•10 days ago

No words the gall

ktbobaytee.bsky.social•10 days ago

Hope the state department has no need to drive up hills or in sub-freezing temps.

relaxedninja.bsky.social•10 days ago

Rumor has it they won't be used as vehicles, but just parked combustible death traps for unsuspecting foreign dissidents.

cayisblue.bsky.social•10 days ago

😂

nikkigu.bsky.social•9 days ago

With steel tariffs, that should produce about 7 of those IDIOT MOBILES.

gammatron64.bsky.social•9 days ago

wow, now a giant death star that blows up when you shoot a tiny little hole and big slow walking machines that fall over when you tie up their legs don't seem so outlandish or unrealistic

now we have combat vehicles that burst into flame if you sprinkle water on them

outerspacewaysinc.bsky.social•10 days ago

Wouldn't it be cheaper to hire more professional thieves to rip us off?

rumpolesghost.bsky.social•9 days ago

Nazis are first about theft: the lying is necessary to cover it.

ham-a-lam.bsky.social•10 days ago

Not only will nobody stop it, it's going to actively get servicepeople killed, and ignored to point that V-22 Ospreys can fly over the Super Bowl without a single mention of their deadly service record.

kv417.bsky.social•10 days ago

Appeasing the Dark Maga Sith Lord with a purchase of vehicles now categorized as “deadlier than a Pinto”, but goes back and disguises it as “electric vehicle purchase”less then an hour after the world has seen the purchase order, because that means it never happened right? Only the smartest people 🤣

jeroenhoogstraten.bsky.social•9 days ago

It’s smart to use those vehicles against enemies instead of making your own roads unsafe!

emptywheel.bsky.social•10 days ago

I dunno. Based on the reporting that it was initially triggered for tesla, it makes it easy for a competitor to issue a challenge that could hold it up for years.

bob0colo.bsky.social•9 days ago

It is Questionable how vehicles are being purchased ....and what were Specifications or the Bid process.

taojones.net•10 days ago

Where was this deal when Louis DeJoy was looking for gas-guzzling mail vehicles?

catpaws313.bsky.social•9 days ago

🤞🏻

geoffbowser.bsky.social•10 days ago

Yea but then Elon could sue the government for breach of contract and Trump could instruct the government to settle.

albanycheshire.bsky.social•10 days ago

It definitely listed Tesla specifically earlier today when I looked it up.

whatcomesnextllc.us•9 days ago

You're basing this off of Rule of Law and I like that kind of optimism.

jaksays.bsky.social•10 days ago

Who else has an armoured EV SUV

It's almost like the contract was designed to only be possible for Tesla to bid

terrejpwdc.bsky.social•10 days ago

no competitor is going to bother going up against the asshole over a $400m contract. they'll wait until he captures contracts that are 10-figures before anyone will even consider lifting a finger

ellenenders.bsky.social•9 days ago

make Trump ride in one...if it's such a great car

prospector1.bsky.social•9 days ago

tRump is suing CBS (for 4 Billion dollars) because 60 Minutes produced a “too favorable story” on Kamala Harris. What defense contractor is dumb enough to protest Elon & Trump?

occasionalhyker.bsky.social•9 days ago

Also, didn't the reporting place the contract date in December of 2024? Meaning it was made during the Biden Administration? Which is either bizarre or extremely disappointing.

rich335.bsky.social•10 days ago

I looked at the file in question when I saw the first article on this and the file was last revised in December when Biden was still president. The Bloomberg article on it says the same thing.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-13/plans-to-buy-armored-teslas-disappear-from-us-procurement-list

gadgetgav.bsky.social•9 days ago

Bloomberg have updated that article this morning to say the “armored Tesla” has been removed. It was in there before Trump took office and it seems Musk has taken it out, at least for now. Doesn’t mean it won’t happen though…

rich335.bsky.social•9 days ago

It wouldn't surprise me if the Biden admin wanted armored electric vehicles for the federal fleet

atomicdumpling.bsky.social•10 days ago

There still has to be a challenge and they have to be able to prove they have the capacity to fill the orders.

voyageinfini.bsky.social•9 days ago

Even if the challenge is based on "faulty" data, it still winds it up for the courts to work through it at their regular pace, which as we all know by now is set permanently to "slow AF."

atomicdumpling.bsky.social•9 days ago

Faulty data?
No.

You're challenging an award that you had to have proposed or bid. You're asking for a review of the reward process based on your application merit and theirs. Which costs money, time, and can cause future problems if you lied about capacity in your bid.

atomicdumpling.bsky.social•9 days ago

Losing a challenge is expensive. Bid/proposals take time and are a lot of work.

It's essentially arbitration. And if you did not bid you cannot challenge.

voyageinfini.bsky.social•9 days ago

"Lying" is fluid terminology in today's America. You're playing chess with someone who challenged you to Russian roulette.

atomicdumpling.bsky.social•9 days ago

This is FAR. This will tell you everything you need to know about Federal contracting.

https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far

https://GSA.gov holds the contracts.

https://Sam.gov is how you register to become a vendor.

Go challenge then.

kencomplain.bsky.social•9 days ago

Someone would have to be willing to piss off this administration by doing that, and so far most corporations are acting like pussies.

phillysky.bsky.social•9 days ago

I dunno, I think DOgE should look into this wasteful spending.

maluce.bsky.social•10 days ago

They might be usefull as target drones.....

sharonotness.bsky.social•10 days ago

So much for saving the government money. It’s all going to Musk

zever.bsky.social•10 days ago

Department of Government Extortion

fs-8.bsky.social•9 days ago

Well he never really said who he‘d save it for, right?

girlhasnoname8.bsky.social•10 days ago

This is so embarrassing.

goodiehowell.bsky.social•9 days ago

Elon’s gotta prop up that stock price somehow, and I guess we’re all just supposed to shut up and pay for it

crimsondynamo4.bsky.social•9 days ago

The Dude Wipe-ening of America.

omni42.bsky.social•9 days ago

It should be noted these would be absolutely useless in a combat done. These would only be of use against the American population.

halicon2k.bsky.social•9 days ago

But i thought we were cracking down on wateful spending

wingoshack.bsky.social•10 days ago

Marco Rubio must've felt like he wasn't getting flipped off in public enough

peterfeld.bsky.social•9 days ago

The weaker our military, the better for Canada, Europe, Mexico and Panama. Bring it!

retiredwhitelady.bsky.social•10 days ago

I'm just a 70 yo retired lady but I thought those things got stuck really easily. Doesn't seem real bright to use them in a war zone.

heidifaith.bsky.social•9 days ago

Well they are going to sell buildings to pay for these...

greenmamalama.bsky.social•10 days ago

jumbro.bsky.social•10 days ago

Truly sickening.

refrag.bsky.social•9 days ago

Fuckin called it
https://bsky.app/profile/refrag.bsky.social/post/3lhod5knzkc2q

judyprincz.bsky.social•9 days ago

You sure did.

autochthonia.bsky.social•10 days ago

If there are American service members who die because of the horrible design of these things, I hope the surviving family sues Elon for so much money that the state has to print more of it to pay the settlement.

hollylilly22.bsky.social•10 days ago

Are they going to use them for target practice, or scrap metal? Because they sure aren’t military grade

splitrailfence.bsky.social•9 days ago

Taxation without representation yet?

nomoretyranny.bsky.social•9 days ago

Trump received $10mil from space X after some made up lawsuit against space X.
How much will he receive from this deal.
I bet the money doesn't go to America but to trump personally.
It's embezzlement and money laundering!