Tesla has spent the better part of a decade as a darling of Washington’s political class. The company was held up as proof that government support for clean energy could produce world-class outcomes, and Elon Musk was treated as a visionary who happened to be building exactly the kind of technology that aligned with the priorities of the political establishment. That relationship has shifted considerably — and the change says something interesting about how quickly official enthusiasm can reverse.

Part of what drove the initial embrace was straightforward: Tesla was winning. The company survived a near-death experience, went on to dominate the EV market, and became the most valuable automaker in the world by most measures. Politicians like attaching themselves to success stories, and for a time Tesla was the cleanest available example of American innovation in clean transportation. The White House held EV summits, legislators posed for photos with Model 3s, and the company’s charging network was treated as essential infrastructure.

The shift began gradually. As Musk became more openly political and his public statements grew more provocative, the comfort level among Democratic politicians in particular started to erode. The purchase of Twitter and Musk’s subsequent behavior on the platform accelerated the distancing. What had been a mutually beneficial relationship — Tesla got favorable policy treatment, politicians got association with a popular tech success — became increasingly awkward.

The practical effects have been subtle but real. Tesla was notably absent from some high-profile White House EV events where union-made vehicles were favored. The company’s decision not to unionize its workforce has been a consistent point of friction with the labor-aligned wing of the Democratic Party, even as Tesla’s vehicles continued qualifying for federal tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act.

None of this changes Tesla’s position in the market, which remains dominant in the US EV segment despite growing competition from legacy automakers. But the cooling of official Washington’s enthusiasm is a notable development for a company that benefited enormously from political goodwill during its formative years. The EV transition is still happening — the policy apparatus built around it isn’t going anywhere — but Tesla’s place at the center of that story looks less certain than it did a few years ago.

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