Elon Musk puts aside his strained relationship with Joe Biden to meet with top White House advisers
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and two senior associates of President Joe Biden met in Washington Friday to discuss the electric vehicle industry and the broader goal of electrification.
Musk and Biden did not meet, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
The two didn’t have the smoothest of relationships with Biden, a big union supporter, frustrated by Musk’s refusal to let her into his factories.
White House staffers Mitch Landrieu and John Podesta sat down with the Tesla boss — who also owns Twitter and SpaceX — at Tesla’s downtown Washington office to discuss shared goals related to electrification.
Their discussion touched on how infrastructure and climate legislation that Biden signed into law last year can help boost production of electric vehicles and charging stations, and encourage more people to switch from gas-powered to electric-powered vehicles and embrace more electric devices to decide. such as heat pumps and furnaces. Rebates and tax credits are available to encourage this shift.
Landrieu oversees federal spending on infrastructure, including financial aid to the electric vehicle industry. Podesta is the president’s contact for spending on Biden’s climate and clean energy initiatives.
Asked if the meeting signals a new phase in the White House’s relationship with Musk, Jean-Pierre said it “says a lot” about how Biden views the importance of both legislation.
“I think it’s important that his team, senior members of his team, had a meeting with Elon Musk,” she said.
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