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Elon Musk is starting to realize, or at least admit, that Trump and the GOP are going to hurt Tesla greatly by removing battery and solar incentives without removing incentives for fossil fuels.

Many people were shocked when Elon Musk decided to back Donald Trump and the Republican Party, considering they have consistently attacked clean energy and electric vehicles, which are Tesla’s main products.

The GOP has been undermining renewable energy for years, and it doesn’t look like Musk’s $300 million donation to Trump and influence on the GOP were able to change that, as the latest budget to pass the GOP controlled-Congress undoes a lot of progress made by the Biden administration on clean energy and electric vehicle adoption.

The budget removes the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles, which is a big part of Tesla’s success in the US. It also kills incentives to build batteries in the US – another incentive that greatly benefited Tesla.

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It also removes 30% tax credit on battery storage and solar, which greatly helped Tesla’s energy division.

Yesterday, Tesla issued a statement calling for the Trump government to gradually phase out those incentives rather than removing them altogether:

Abruptly ending the energy tax credits would threaten America’s energy independence and the reliability of our grid – we urge the senate to enact legislation with a sensible wind down of 25D and 48e. This will ensure continued speedy deployment of over 60 GW capacity per year to support AI and domestic manufacturing growth.

Musk shared the statement and then added that while the government that he helped elect is removing incentives for electric vehicles and clean energy, it is not removing those for oil and gas:

The US is incentivizing the oil and gas industry at a rate of hundreds of billions of dollars per year.

Before backing Trump and the Republican Party, Musk had stated that he would be for the removal of EV and clean energy incentives if incentives for fossil fuels were also removed.

Musk has officially exited the Trump administration this week.

Electrek’s Take

It’s interesting to see Musk finally speaking out, albeit weakly, against some of Trump’s policies for the first time. He did note that the budget bill would increase the deficit, and now this.

A quick reminder that Musk said that Trump was the “only one who could save the Western world” and that if he is not elected, the US is basically done.

His stated goals with Trump were to “kill the woke mind virus” and get the deficit and debt under control.

The US has never been more divided, and Trump is pushing a budget that would add about $4 trillion to the US debt over the next few years. His backing of Trump hasn’t achieved anything meaningful toward those goals. Of course, Musk’s real goal in backing Trump was likely to get federal regulators and agencies that were closing in on him and his businesses off his back.

He was successful in doing that, but at what cost?

The EV tax credit is a significant factor in maintaining Tesla’s demand in the US, which is essentially its last primary market where it sells vehicles at a profit.

The removal of the 30% ITC for solar and energy storage would significantly slow down Tesla’s energy storage business, which has been its only growing business for the last two years.

In short, the budget would greatly weaken Tesla’s business in the US, which was its last remaining market that wasn’t doing too badly. Canada is gone. Europe is gone, and Tesla is facing tremendous pressure from competition in China.

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Paris’ popular bike share program has a big sticky finger problem

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Paris' popular bike share program has a big sticky finger problem

Paris’ bike-share system, Vélib has long been considered one of the shining success stories of urban micromobility. With a massive fleet of over 20,000 pedal and electric-assist bicycles around Paris, the service has helped millions of residents and tourists get around the City of Light without needing a car or scooter. But lately, a growing problem is threatening to knock the wheels off this urban mobility marvel: theft and joyriding.

According to city officials and the service operator, more than 600 Vélib bikes are now going missing every single week. That’s over 30 bikes a day simply vanishing from the system – some stolen outright, others taken on “joy rides” and never returned.

“At the moment we’re missing 3,000 bikes,” explained Sylvain Raifaud, head of the Agemob company that currently operates the Velib system. That’s nearly 15% of over 20,000 Vélib bikes across Paris.

The sticky-fingered culprits aren’t necessarily professional thieves or organized crime rings. Instead, they’re often regular users who treat the shared bikes like disposable toys.

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The city estimates that many people have figured out how to pry the bikes out of the system’s parking docks, unlocking one for a casual cruise and then ditching it somewhere far from a docking station.

Once pried free, the bikes are technically usable for the next 24 hours until their automatic locking feature kicks in. At that point, the bikes are often simply abandoned. Some end up in alleyways. Others get tossed in rivers. A few just disappear completely.

And since the bikes are intended to be parked at their many docking stations around the city, they don’t have GPS chips, further complicating recovery of “liberated” bikes.

The issue started small but has grown into more than an inconvenience – it’s beginning to undermine the entire purpose of the service. With bikes going missing at such a high rate, many Vélib docking stations are left empty, especially during rush hours.

Riders looking for a quick commute or a convenient hop across town are increasingly finding themselves without available bikes, or having to walk long distances to find a functioning one.

That kind of unreliability chips away at user confidence and threatens to drive potential riders back into cars, cabs, or other less sustainable forms of transport at a time when Paris has already made great strides to dramatically reduce car usage in the city.

The losses are financially painful, too. Replacing stolen or vandalized bikes isn’t cheap, and the resources spent on tracking down missing equipment or reinforcing anti-theft measures are stretching thin. Vélib has faced theft and vandalism issues before, especially during its early years, but this latest surge has officials sounding the alarm with renewed urgency.

Officials acknowledge that there’s no easy fix. Paris, like many cities with bike-share systems, walks a fine line between accessibility and accountability. Part of what makes Vélib so successful is its ease of use and widespread availability. But those same features make it vulnerable to misuse – especially when enforcement is limited and the consequences for abuse are minimal.

The timing of the problem is especially unfortunate. In recent years, Paris has seen impressive results in reducing car traffic, expanding bike lanes, and promoting cycling as a key part of its sustainable transport strategy. Vélib is a cornerstone of that plan. But if the system becomes too unreliable, it risks losing the very people it was designed to serve.

Meanwhile, as Parisians increasingly find themselves staring at empty docks, the challenge for the city and Vélib will be to restore confidence in the system without making it harder to use. That means striking the right balance between freedom and responsibility, between open access and protection against abuse.

In a city where cycling is supposed to be the future of mobility, losing thousands of bikes to joyriders and sticky fingers isn’t just frustrating; it’s unsustainable.

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CNBC Daily Open: Elon Musk, founder of companies and political parties

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CNBC Daily Open: Elon Musk, founder of companies and political parties

U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend a press event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025.

Nathan Howard | Reuters

When they lose a significant other, most men do indeed become a “TRAIN WRECK.” Then they pick up the pieces of their lives and start living again — paying attention to their personal grooming, hitting the gym and discovering new hobbies.

What does the world’s richest man do? He starts a political party.

Last weekend, as the United States celebrated its independence from the British in 1776, Elon Musk enshrined his sovereignty from U.S. President Donald Trump by establishing the creatively named “American Party.”

Few details have been revealed, but Musk said the party will focus on “just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” and will have legislative discussions “with both parties” — referring to the U.S. Democratic and Republican Parties.

It might be easier to realize Musk’s dream of colonizing Mars than to bridge the political aisle in the U.S. government today.

To be fair, some thought appeared to be behind the move. Musk decided to form the party after holding a poll on X in which 65.4% of respondents voted in favor.

Folks, here’s direct democracy — and the powerful post-separation motivation — in action.

 — CNBC’s Erin Doherty contributed to this report.

What you need to know today

And finally…

An investor sits in front of a board showing stock information at a brokerage office in Beijing, China.

Thomas Peter | Reuters

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CNBC Daily Open: Most people don’t start a political party after separation

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CNBC Daily Open: Most people don't start a political party after separation

US President Donald Trump, right, and Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., during a news conference in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, May 30, 2025.

Francis Chung | Bloomberg | Getty Images

When they find themselves without a significant other, most men finally start living: They pay attention to their personal grooming, hit the gym and discover new hobbies.

What does the world’s richest man do? He starts a political party.

Last weekend, as the United States celebrated its independence from the British in 1776, Elon Musk enshrined his sovereignty from U.S. President Donald Trump by establishing the creatively named “American Party.”

Few details have been revealed, but Musk said the party will focus on “just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” and will have legislative discussions “with both parties” — referring to the U.S. Democratic and Republican Parties.

It might be easier to realize Musk’s dream of colonizing Mars than to bridge the political aisle in the U.S. government today.

To be fair, some thought appeared to be behind the move. Musk decided to form the party after holding a poll on X in which 65.4% of respondents voted in favor.

Folks, here’s direct democracy — and the powerful post-separation motivation — in action.

 — CNBC’s Erin Doherty contributed to this report.

What you need to know today

Trump confirms tariffs will kick in Aug. 1. That postpones the deadline by a month, but tariffs could “boomerang” back to April levels for countries without deals. Trump on Friday said letters with “take it or leave it” offers will go out to 12 countries Monday.

U.S. stock futures slipped Sunday. Despite the White House pushing back the return of “reciprocal” tariffs, some investors could be worried trade negotiations would result in higher-than-expected duties. Europe’s Stoxx 600 index dropped 0.48% Friday.

OPEC+ members to increase oil output. Eight members of the alliance agreed on Saturday to hike their collective crude production by 548,000 barrels per day, around 100,000 more than expected.

Elon Musk forms a new political party. On Saturday, the world’s richest man said he has formed a new U.S. political party named the “American Party,” which he claims will give Americans “back your freedom.”

[PRO] Wall Street is growing cautious on European equities. As investors seek shelter from tumult in U.S., the Stoxx 600 index has risen 6.6% year to date. Analysts, however, think the foundations of that growth could be shaky.

And finally…

Ayrton Senna driving the Marlboro McLaren during the Belgian Grand Prix in 1992.

Pascal Rondeau | Hulton Archive | Getty Images

The CEO mindset is shifting. It’s no longer all about winning

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/06/the-ceo-mindset-is-shifting-its-no-longer-all-about-winning.html

CEOs today aren’t just steering companies — they’re navigating a minefield. From geopolitical shocks and economic volatility to rapid shifts in tech and consumer behavior, the playbook for leadership is being rewritten in real time.

In an exclusive interview with CNBC earlier this week, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown outlined a leadership approach centered on urgency, momentum and learning from failure. 

— Spriha Srivastava

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