- A $400 million order for armored electric Teslas appeared on a 2025 State Department contract.
- The Trump administration denied involvement, claiming the deal began under Biden’s presidency.
- New documents reveal Biden’s budget allocated $483,000 for EVs and $3 million for equipment.
In early February, a curious line item appeared on the State Department’s largest contract of 2025: “Armored Tesla (Production Units)” with a staggering price tag of $400,000,000. The entry showed up on an official procurement document, sparking immediate denials from the Trump administration, which insisted that the deal originated under Biden. But now, newly surfaced evidence suggests that might not be entirely accurate.
According to a report from NPR, which says it obtained a new document from the State Department, the budget breakdown for the 2025 fiscal year tells a different story. It shows just $483,000 allocated for electric vehicles, along with an additional $3 million designated for support equipment like chargers, for a total of nearly $3.5 million. No mention of hundreds of millions for armored Teslas.
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NPR says it also spoke to a former White House official who believes the Trump administration did intend to buy $400 million worth of Teslas. “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,'” they said on the condition of anonymity.
Interestingly, a spokesperson for the State Department told NPR on Monday that the $400 million was “an estimate” and that “the Department of State has no intention to move forward with the solicitation.” They also pointed out that the proposal was in its early stages and was not yet a full contract but was meant “strictly to gather information.”
For his part, Elon Musk also claims to know nothing about this deal so it’s plausible the truth is in the middle.
Perhaps someone in the Trump administration genuinely believed Tesla was the best choice for armored vehicles, and the plan was quietly dropped after public scrutiny. Or maybe the budget line was just an ambitious placeholder. Either way, the deal seems to be off the table for now—but given the rapid twists in this saga, that could change at any moment.
For what it’s worth, the document submitted to the White House from the State Department listed several concerns about converting an EV to an armored personnel carrier. Beyond just protecting the battery to the point that assailants couldn’t pierce or damage it, the department wrote “finding an electric vehicle that can hold the weight of armor and have viable range for protection driving are other initial challenges.”
For now, it seems the State Department’s armored Tesla fleet is on ice. But as the political narrative continues to shift, this story might not be over.
