Tesla Profits Pummeled from Protests, DOGE and ICE

SAN FRANCISCO (01-31) – For the past 11 months, activists at the weekly Trump Regime Takedown protest outside Tesla showrooms across the country continue to call for resistance against the Trump regime’s fascist attacks on our democracy and to bring pressure on Elon Musk and his car company for its destruction of our federal workforce and Musk’s politics under the Trump II administration. Indivisible SF, organizers of the protest gathering at “democracy corner” on San Francisco’s auto row, have seen a massive upswing in attendance following the ICE killings in Minnesota of Renee Good on January 7, and Alex Pretti on January 24.

The outrage for the impunity which the administration has for our democracy, the Constitution and citizens has solidified the will of many to resist and stand defiant by not consenting to allow in their words “Trump and his billionaire allies taking a chainsaw to our government and our economy for their benefit! San Francisco is a sanctuary city, and We the People need to defend the values that make it so. Let’s stand united and oppose the endless assaults on our communities, our civil rights, the rule of law, and our democracy.”

Homeland Security and ICE, initially created to protect Americans from both internal and external threats, have now morphed into a quasi-Praetorian Guard used by Trump against anyone who stands in his authoritarian way to achieve the goals of Project 2025. As with all things Trumpian, it is difficult to “square the circle” such as when he threatens Iran militarily for the killing of freedom-seeking protesters there and has no such concern for the killings and kidnappings of American citizens and immigrants in our nation. An recent editorial in The New York Times, by Ben Rhodes rightly opined by stating the obvious that “We need to overhaul the out-of-control Department of Homeland Security.”

It is because of all these issues that activists have gathered weekly on the sidewalks and nearby traffic island along busy Van Ness Avenue, creating a striking presence that draws the attention of passing drivers through their signs, banners and other artwork. They have not spared anyone in the Trump/MAGA administration from their criticism, including its billionaire cohorts and other major players. Among their demands were calls for the resignation of Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security; the firing of CBP Commissioner Gregory Bovino; the arrest of Attorney General Pamela Bondi, the ousting of Stephen Miller and Robert Kennedy Jr, and calling loudly for the abolishment of ICE, along with their continued intense disdain for all things Musk.

Noted too, and also echoed by protesters, is the inestimable value and history of immigrants in a nation made up of immigrants and the right for all Americans to live without fear of being taken by ICE that has exhibited its complete disregard for the Constitution.

In a written message from former President Joe Biden distributed by volunteers concerning the erosion of our democracy, he stated, in part: “What has unfolded in Minneapolis this past month betrays our most basic values as Americans. We are not a nation that guns down our citizens in the street. We are not a nation that allows our citizens to be brutalized for exercising their constitutional rights…. Minnesotans have reminded us all what it is to be American, and they have suffered enough at the hands of this administration. Violence and terror have no place in the United States of America, especially when it’s our own government targeting American citizens.”

These words and deeds were well-illustrated, recognized and supported in the numerous creative signs held aloft by activists, and, judging by the constant non-stop cacophony of blaring car horns that voiced support for their cause along the busy street, were of concern to the masses.

The aggregate effect of the protesters’ perseverance for these past 11 months, both here and abroad, has manifested itself in a significant decrease in Tesla sales. When combined with the company’s price cuts, along with increased competition from China’s BYD and Volkswagen electric vehicles, Elon’s cash cow has seen a decline in profits of around 46-61 percent over those of 2024.

In facing these strong headwinds, Musk is regrouping the company by reducing Tesla offerings through discontinuing production of its premium S and X models – $95,000 and $100,00 respectively – while hoping to increase slumping sales of its unpopular Cybertruck, down 40 percent, by reimagining it as an autonomous delivery vehicle.

This realignment is occurring as TESLA holds an estimated $44.1 billion in cash and equivalents. Part of this new strategy has seen Musk charging full speed ahead in the continued development of his money-losing xAI artificial intelligence company, and in ramping up production of its AI-controlled humanoid robot “Optimus” (Tesla Bot). His vision calls for producing one million of the $30,000 robots by the end of this decade.

According to RobotsGuide, an online magazine, the robot’s role is to engage in work inside or outside the home that a human should not wish to do or not have to do which is “dangerous, repetitive and boring.”

To achieve this objective, the company is investing $20 billion or 21 percent of its annual revenue in the development of Optimus. It was also recently announced that the massive Tesla assembly plant in Fremont, California, will be partially converted for the robot’s production that the company is hoping to begin selling by late 2027 at the earliest.

Detractors see Optimus’ future as overly optimistic and not dissimilar to many other projects put forth by Musk that never reached fruition. In the realm of robotic competition, numerous other companies worldwide are also working on humanoid robots that are said to be more promising in a race to the future.

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

© 2026 nuzeink all rights reserved worldwide