The media and Democrats pounced this week on what they thought was evidence of scandalous conflicts of interest and corrupt self-dealing involving tech billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump and an alleged federal contract to purchase $400 million worth of armored Tesla Cybertrucks.

The State Department subsequently announced, however, that the supposed deal never advanced beyond the planning stage and that anticipated solicitations for an "armored electric vehicles" contract were never sent out and had been placed on hold, according to the Associated Press.

Furthermore, it was revealed that the idea of purchasing armored Tesla Cybertrucks for the State Department had originated last September with the prior Biden-Harris administration and was not part of the Trump administration's plans.

Solicitation for bids halted on idea formulated under Biden admin

The AP reported that, according to an unnamed spokesperson, the State Department had been in preliminary talks with Musk's Tesla since last year about procuring armored Cybertrucks but that everything had been placed on hold following the recent flurry of media reports.

The plan first originated in 2024 when the Biden White House tasked the State Department to purchase several armored electric vehicles, and it was noted that Tesla was the only company to respond to an initial query sent out to gauge interest in a potential federal contract.

An official request for bids was slated to be posted in May but that formal solicitation is now on indefinite hold, and the spokesperson stressed that no contract was ever granted to Tesla or any other company for the armored electric vehicles that were desired by the prior administration.

State Department confirms no contract issued

Further reinforcing the fact that a contract to purchase $400 million worth of armored Tesla Cybertrucks was a Biden-Harris administration idea and not one dreamed up by President Trump and Musk was a Time magazine report that highlighted how the proposed contract was first revealed in a 2025 procurement forecast that was published in December.

That original forecast has since been updated to remove Tesla's name from the document that still seemingly anticipates a purchase of "Armore Electric Vehicles," while a newer version of the expected procurements for 2025 contains a line that mentions only "Armored Car Services."

Similar to what the AP was told, an unnamed State Department official informed Time that the previous administration instructed the Department to explore whether there was any interest in producing armored electric vehicles for the government, that only one company responded to the initial inquiry, and that no contract had been awarded yet.

Musk, in an X post on Thursday that came in reply to a tech reporter's post about the supposed scandal, indicated that he was unaware of the purported plan when he wrote, "I’m pretty sure Tesla isn’t getting $400M. No one mentioned it to me, at least."

Trump and Musk being transparent but Dems are still demanding answers

Time further reported that during an impromptu press conference in the Oval Office on Tuesday to discuss some of the findings of Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, Musk told reporters, "Transparency is what builds trust," and added of the constant publicizing of DOGE's findings, "You can see: Am I doing something that benefits one of my companies or not? … I fully expect to be scrutinized."

President Trump himself said of the work of Musk and DOGE to uncover examples of waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending, "If we thought there was a lack of transparency or a conflict of interest, we would not let him do that segment or look in that area."

Of course, facts are rarely good enough for Democrats and the media once they've become fixated on a narrative that seemingly confirms their preconceived notions, as CBS News reported that Sen. Dick Blumenthal (D-CT) has belatedly sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to demand answers about the non-existent contract to purchase armored Tesla Cybertrucks.

"Mr. Musk's dual roles pose conflicts of interest so obvious that they hardly require explanation," the Democratic senator wrote in the letter that smeared Musk and his company's Cybertruck. "The State Department's intent to purchase armored Cybertrucks suggests the conflicts of interest inherent in Mr. Musk's installation of his cronies throughout the government are not being adequately managed and, in fact, are increasing by the minute."