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Why Trump could be interested in Elon Musk’s Mars mission
Of all the speculations being made about the plans Donald Trump has for the United States, this one may really perk up the ears of space fans in a good way.
“We choose to go to
the MoonMars, not because it is easy, but because it is hard and would be a huge deal for my presidency.”– Future President Trump speech
The future is anyone’s crystal ball with the Trump administration, but there are some credible breadcrumbs out there worth a second look and arguably optimistic conjecture about a Mars-Trump-Elon Musk connection.
Here’s the gluten trail:
- Elon Musk has joined Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, signaling Trump’s interest in his business expertise and his access to Trump
- Musk has had at least one meeting with Trump specifically, and had at least two recent visits to Trump Tower, further confirming Trump’s interest in Musk
- Musk has said positive things about being able to work with Trump towards energy technology goals and manufacturing in the U.S. (which would include SpaceX)
- Trump has recently met with historian David Brinkley who specifically cited Trump’s interest in President John F. Kennedy’s famous Moon speech and a mission to the Moon, signaling Trump’s interest in a “big” space goal
- Trump’s NASA transition team includes several pro-commercial spaceflight faces, SpaceX fans included
- Trump is interested in cutting discretionary spending, and commercial-government spaceflight partnerships would be an option in line with that path, especially using SpaceX’s lower cost rocket technology
- Musk’s timeline for SpaceX’s future missions to Mars means they could potentially occur during Trump’s presidency, notably close to reelection campaign season
That last one could be what could pull the lever if the decision came down to the Moon people vs. the Mars people.
It’s no secret that congressional space policy leadership favors the Moon as a stepping stone to Mars, and that itself has significant weight; however, SpaceX is already on the way to sending its Red Dragon capsule to Mars, 2018/2020 being the current launch goal, and redirecting NASA once again to focus instead on the Moon would likely take more time (and money) to do, leaving SpaceX to bask in red planet glory first during reelection season.
Trump has been listening to @elonmusk on Mars and Doug Brinkley on JFK's moonshot. Hmmm…. https://t.co/WkfpppBYIy
— Joel Achenbach (@JoelAchenbach) January 19, 2017
The political picture kind of paints itself, really. The presidential campaign is underway and Trump’s Moon mission, a place the public would possibly see as “been there done that”, is running over budget and likely not even happened yet. Meanwhile, Elon Musk and his SpaceX team have launched their Falcon Heavy cargo, possibly preparing for a second launch, and have either already landed on Mars or about to.
That’s not a pretty picture if you’re President Donald Trump arguing the case for how you’re making America great again.
It’s possible that Trump is really only interested in speaking with Elon Musk about the future of electric cars (maybe that subsidy situation that keeps getting harped on by certain groups on the right?) and/or the unique startup-to-success stories of Elon’s companies, but it would make just as much sense for him to be interested in a Mars mission to unite the country under his leadership. The work is already being done so in a way, Trump just needs to make a few of his famous “deals” to help things along to be able to plant his name on it.
In that light, a journey to Mars certainly looks like it could unfortunately just be a political decision rather than a grandiose vision thing for the President. After all, Trump hasn’t seemed very interested in our space program overall, choosing to focus on economic matters and non-NASA related national security. However, would it really be a bad thing for him to pursue a Mars mission for purely political motivations? Done right, it’s a win-win for everyone: Trump gets his political boost, humanity gets to celebrate the official beginning of becoming a multiplanetary species via the world of “new space”.
Only time will tell, and hopefully we will have more answers rather than questions in the immediate future.
Elon Musk
Trump’s invite for Elon just reshuffled Tesla’s big Signature Delivery Event
Tesla rescheduled its final Model S farewell to May 20 after Musk joined Trump in China.
Tesla has rescheduled its Model S and Model X Signature Edition delivery event to Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after abruptly calling off the original May 12 celebration. The event will take place at Tesla’s factory at 45500 Fremont Boulevard in Fremont, California, the same location where the Model S first rolled off the line in 2012. Invitees received a follow-up email asking them to reconfirm attendance and download a new QR code ticket, with Tesla noting that all travel and accommodation expenses remain the buyer’s responsibility.
The reason behind the original cancellation came into focus the same day it was announced. President Trump invited Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, and executives from Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Citigroup, and Meta to join his trip to China this week for a summit with President Xi Jinping. The agenda covers trade, artificial intelligence, export controls, Taiwan, and the Iran war, following weeks of escalating friction between Washington and Beijing over AI technology, sanctions, and rare earth exports. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I am very much looking forward to my trip to China, an amazing Country, with a Leader, President Xi, respected by all.”
Tesla launches 200mph Model S “Gold” Signature in invite-only purchase
The vehicles at the center of all this are the last Model S and Model X units Tesla will ever build. Priced at $159,420 each, the 250 Model S and 100 Model X Signature Edition units come finished in Garnet Red with a one-year no-resale agreement, giving Tesla right of first refusal if the owner decides to sell. As Teslarati reported, the Model S defined Tesla’s early identity as a serious luxury automaker, and the Fremont factory line that built it is now being converted to manufacture Optimus humanoid robots.
Musk’s inclusion in the China delegation drew attention given his very public relationship with Trump, and the invitation signals the two have moved past and past grievances. Trump originally brought Musk on to lead the Department of Government Efficiency following his inauguration, and despite a sharp public dispute in mid-2025, the two have appeared together repeatedly in recent months. A seat on the China trip, the most diplomatically consequential visit of Trump’s current term, puts Musk back at the table on U.S. economic policy at a moment when Tesla’s China revenue remains one of the company’s most important financial pillars.
Tesla has launched a new solution to a rare but relevant Supercharger problem with a new Virtual Waitlist, a remedy that will solve sequencing confusion when there is a line to charge at one of the company’s locations.
Teslarati reported on what we called the Virtual Queue last month. In rare occurrences, there were physical altercations at Superchargers when someone might have cut in line to charge. Tesla started to develop some sort of system that would resolve this issue, and now it is finally rolling it out.
Tesla launches solution to end Supercharger fights once and for all
It will start with a Pilot Program, and Tesla is calling it the ‘Waitlist.’
Announced on May 11 on the official TeslaCharging X account, the pilot program is currently active at sites in Los Gatos, Mountain View, and San Francisco in California, as well as San Jose, CA, and the Bronx, NY (East Gun Hill Road). Drivers are encouraged to share feedback directly through the Tesla app to refine the system before a potential broader rollout.
We’re now testing a new waitlist feature at 5 Supercharger sites. Share feedback through the Tesla app to help us make it better.
– Los Gatos, CA – Los Gatos Boulevard
– Mountain View, CA – El Monte Avenue
– San Francisco, CA – Lombard Street
– San Jose, CA – Saratoga Avenue
-… pic.twitter.com/epTVzpJxgW— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) May 11, 2026
Tesla released the video above to showcase the feature, which automatically joins the waitlist when your vehicle has the Supercharger with the wait as the destination in the navigation. There is also a notification that lets you know your place in line.
In this specific example, the video shows that the wait is less than five minutes, and that there are two cars ahead of the one in the video:
Credit: Tesla
Having a wait at a Supercharger is relatively rare, but it does happen. It is even more frequent now that there are more EVs allowed to use the Supercharger Network. Those non-Tesla EVs can also join the queue, as Tesla added in its social media release of the pilot program that they can join the waitlist using the Tesla app.
The release of this program should help alleviate the rare risk of incidents at Superchargers. Tesla will expand this program as it sees fit, and it gathers valuable data and reviews from users.
Investor's Corner
Tesla Optimus is already benefiting investors, top Wall Street firm says
Piper Sandler has updated its detailed valuation model for Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), concluding that at recent share prices around $400–$420, investors are essentially acquiring the company’s ambitious Optimus humanoid robot project at no extra cost.
Tesla Optimus is already benefiting investors from a fiscal standpoint, at least that is what Alexander Potter at Piper Sandler, a top Wall Street firm covering the company, says.
Piper Sandler has updated its detailed valuation model for Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), concluding that at recent share prices around $400–$420, investors are essentially acquiring the company’s ambitious Optimus humanoid robot project at no extra cost.
Analyst Alexander Potter, in the firm’s latest “Definitive Guide to Investing in Tesla,” built a comprehensive framework covering 17 separate product lines.
This granular approach values Tesla’s core businesses—including electric vehicles, energy storage, Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, in-house insurance, Supercharging network, and a standalone robotaxi operation—at approximately $400 per share, without assigning any value to Optimus or related inference-as-a-service opportunities.
“At $400/share, we think investors can buy Optimus for ‘free,’” Potter stated in the note. Piper Sandler maintained its Overweight rating on Tesla shares and a $500 price target, which implicitly attributes roughly $100 per share to the robot-related businesses— a figure the analyst views as potentially conservative.
The updated model incorporates elements often overlooked by other sell-side analysts, such as detailed forecasts for Tesla’s insurance operations, Supercharger revenue, and a distinct valuation for the robotaxi business separate from FSD software licensing. It also accounts for Tesla’s 2025 CEO compensation plan for the first time.
Potter acknowledged that his estimates for 2026 and 2027 fall below Wall Street consensus, citing factors like declining deliveries from certain discontinued models and reduced regulatory credit income.
However, he expressed limited concern, noting that traditional vehicle delivery metrics are expected to matter less over time as FSD subscriber growth and robotaxi deployment metrics gain prominence. On Optimus specifically, Potter suggested the humanoid robot program, combined with inference services, “arguably will be worth more than Tesla’s other businesses combined,” though the firm has not yet produced formal long-term forecasts for these segments.
Tesla shares have traded near the $400 range in recent sessions, reflecting ongoing investor focus on the company’s autonomous driving progress and expansion into robotics and AI. The Optimus project remains in early development stages, with Tesla aiming to deploy the robots initially for internal factory tasks before broader commercial applications.
This Piper Sandler analysis highlights the growing emphasis among some investors and analysts on Tesla’s long-term technology platform potential beyond its current automotive and energy businesses.
As with any forward-looking valuation, outcomes will depend on execution timelines, technological breakthroughs, regulatory approvals for autonomous systems, and market adoption of humanoid robotics—areas that carry significant uncertainty and execution risk.
The note underscores a common theme in Tesla coverage: differing views on how to quantify emerging high-growth opportunities like robotics within the company’s overall enterprise value. Investors are advised to consider their own risk tolerance and conduct thorough due diligence regarding these speculative elements.
Trump’s invite for Elon just reshuffled Tesla’s big Signature Delivery Event
Tesla launches its solution to rare but relevant Supercharger problem
