President Trump tells Fox News’s Sean Hannity that he encouraged Tesla’s Elon Musk to build the next factory in Austin, Texas, and says Musk is doing very well.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is an example of an American businessman who is “doing it,” in part by planning a new auto plant in Texas, President Trump said Thursday.
Manufacturing and jobs will be a priority as the president pushes for a second term, Trump said during a telephone interview on Fox News’ “Hannity”.
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“I was with Elon Musk. I said, ‘Elon builds a factory in Texas,’ ”the president said to host Sean Hannity. “You just announced today that you are building one of the largest plants in the world: automobile plants for Tesla. And it’s going to be in Texas. And you know, it’s great. He called me a moment ago to say, “I did it.”
Trump tweeted about the achievement on Friday, saying Musk “kept his word” and that the Texas factory will be “the world’s largest auto plant.”
Musk replied, thanking the president on behalf of Tesla.
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The president also told Hannity that he was “putting pressure” on Musk to do the job.
“He did it, but I was putting a lot of pressure on that job for Elon because we work with him and we do a lot for him. And I said, ‘It’s time,’ and he was great, he’s doing a good job, “he said.
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Earlier this year, Musk had threatened to withdraw most of Tesla’s operations from Northern California, citing state coronavirus-related restrictions on his operations. Musk spoke about Texas, Nevada, and other states as possible new sites for Tesla jobs.
Last week, officials in Travis County, Texas, which includes the state capital Austin, approved a plan to provide millions in tax subsidies to Tesla if he builds a $ 1.1 billion vehicle factory in the area, according to Reuters.
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Texas had been competing with Oklahoma to attract a new factory to build Tesla sports utility vehicles and cyber trucks.
This story has been updated to include tweets from President Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
