Elizabeth Warren Calls It 'Textbook Corruption,' Once Again Asks For Probe Into Elon Musk 'Cashing In' On Trump Tariffs

On Sunday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) doubled down on her accusations that Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk benefited from Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, calling for a federal investigation into what she labeled "textbook corruption."

What Happened: In a video posted on social media, Warren alleged that Starlink, Musk's satellite internet venture, received favorable foreign operating permits around the same time Trump imposed broad tariffs during trade negotiations.

"Suddenly, some of the same countries that were negotiating trade deals with Trump started giving Starlink some pretty good deals," Warren said, citing new Starlink permits in Gambia, Bangladesh, Vietnam and India.

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"Is Elon Musk using international trade negotiations as leverage to make even more and more and more money for himself?" she asked. "Looks like textbook corruption."

Warren warned that “Elon Musk is cashing in on Donald Trump’s tariffs,” while everyone else is paying for this chaos, referring to the consumer impact of higher import prices.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments.

Why It's Important: Last month, Senate Democrats, including Warren, urged a federal probe into whether Trump's administration is helping SpaceX gain entry into international markets.

This demand followed Musk's announcement at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum that Saudi Arabia has authorized Starlink services for use in the aviation and maritime sectors.

Previously, The Washington Post reported that state department cables showed that U.S. embassies and the department consistently encouraged tariff-affected countries to ease restrictions on satellite firms, often highlighting Starlink by name.

In April, senate democratic committee staffers released a report alleging that Musk could potentially bypass over $2 billion in financial obligations due to his sway within the U.S. government.

Price Action: Tesla stock dropped 3.34% on Friday, finishing the day at $346.46. It slipped a further 0.27% in after-hours trading. So far this year, the stock is down 8.65%, based on Benzinga Pro data.

According to Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings, Tesla holds an impressive growth score of 91.89%. Click here to see how it measures up against other top-performing stocks.

Photo: Shutterstock/Sheila Fitzgerald

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.