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The electric vehicle maker has been rocked by protests and vandalism in recent weeks as chief executive Elon Musk has become the face of the Trump administration’s efforts to slash the federal government.
Trump, speaking at an event outside the White House next to a red Tesla Model S on Tuesday, was asked by a journalist if those who carry out attacks at Tesla dealerships should be labelled as domestic terrorists.
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“I will do that, I’ll do it,” said Trump. “I’m going to stop them.” He added the attackers are “harming a great American company.”
Protests, largely peaceful, have sprouted up at showrooms across the United States and Europe in recent weeks. However, a dozen Tesla vehicles were set ablaze at a showroom in France, and police in Lynnwood, Washington are investigating six Tesla vehicles that were vandalized with spray paint last weekend.
Tesla shares posted their worst day in more than four years this week after analysts cut their delivery projections for the first quarter and the full year. The company, which traditionally has a slow first quarter, is experiencing slumps in sales and shipments in markets including China and Europe.
Trump said that the identities of some of the perpetrators are already known, citing surveillance cameras.
“They’re bad guys. They’re the same guys that screw around with our schools and universities,” he said.
At the event, Trump said he would purchase a Tesla in a show of support for Musk, the world’s richest man.
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A representative for Tesla Takedown, a decentralized movement focused on protesting at Tesla showrooms, said the campaign is “a nonviolent grassroots protest movement” that opposes violence and destruction of property.
“Peaceful protest on public property is not domestic terrorism,” the group said in a statement. “They are trying to intimidate us. We will not let them succeed.”
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