Automaker Ford Motor Company F is the latest to donate to Donald Trump's inauguration fund, a move that comes with Ford rival Tesla Inc TSLA and its CEO Elon Musk likely set to benefit from the new White House administration.
What Happened: Ford has donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration, matching totals from Amazon.com Inc AMZN and Meta Platforms META and the recent $1 million pledge from his personal wealth by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Ford is donating $1 million to Trump for his January 2025 inauguration along with a fleet of vehicles, according to a report from Reuters.
The company did not indicate which vehicles were being donated and if they would be part of Trump's motorcade for the inauguration or for general purposes in his new administration.
The donations add to the number of companies and individuals helping fund Trump's inauguration. For comparison, Trump raised a record $106.7 million from companies and donors for his 2017 inauguration with President Joe Biden raising $61.7 million for his 2021 inauguration according to the report.
Trump is expected to use "The Beast" as his vehicle while in the White House. The vehicle was used by Trump and Biden during the last two presidencies, with a previous version of the vehicle made by General Motors GM under the Cadillac brand also used by President Barack Obama.
"The Beast" is a heavily armored limousine used by the president, as reported by CarandDriver.
The Ford vehicles could end up being part of Trump's motorcade and used by other government officials, many of whom, including nominees for Trump's cabinet will likely attend the inauguration.
One of the people who could attend is Musk. One of the questions ahead of the January inauguration will now be if Ford's vehicles are used for the inauguration, will Musk consider riding in one or would he not take part in the official motorcade entrance of Trump? Or does Musk get bumped up to riding in "The Beast," another non-Tesla vehicle?
Recall that a Tesla Cybertruck found its way into Trump's motorcade when he was in Texas at Starbase watching a flight test of SpaceX's Starship. While Trump likely wasn't inside the Cybertruck, the vehicle was featured in the parade of vehicles.
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Why It's Important: Ford's donation to the inauguration comes as Musk's friendship has grown with Trump and could make Tesla one of the biggest winners of the next White House administration.
While Tesla hasn't donated to Trump's inauguration, the company could benefit under new car-crash reporting rules expected under the president-elect and the ending of electric vehicle tax credits that could hurt Tesla's competitors.
Tesla could also benefit from Trump being more friendly to autonomous vehicles helping to support Tesla's robotaxi visions and reversing course on his promise to ban the vehicles before the 2024 election.
For Ford, the donation comes as Trump's promise to put tariffs on Mexico and Canada could hurt U.S. automakers like Ford and GM.
F, TSLA Price Action: Ford stock trades at $9.86 on Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $9.49 to $14.85. Ford stock is down 19% year-to-date in 2024.
Tesla stock trades at $433.66 on Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $138.80 to $488.54. Tesla stock is up 75% year-to-date in 2024.
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