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Elon Musk says Trump ‘must win’ election to ‘preserve democracy’

Credit: Forbes | YouTube

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Elon Musk spoke at a Pennsylvania rally for former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Pennsylvania over the weekend, calling the election a “must-win” for Trump, and noting that people needed to vote to preserve the Constitution and democracy as a whole.

It was reported earlier this week that Musk would be speaking at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the former President was shot in an assassination attempt in July. Trump invited Musk onto the stage during the early minutes of his speech, with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO taking up just a couple of minutes of the former President’s stage time.

During the speech, Musk talked about many of the themes he has written about online over the past few months, especially including freedom of speech and the need for everyone to get out and vote. He also called this election the “most important election of our lifetime,” tying it to concerns about voter fraud and California’s recently passed SB 1174, which banned voter ID in response to a previous Huntington Beach voter ID requirement.

Musk continued:

The other side wants to take away your freedom of speech. They want to take away your right to bear arms, they want to take away your right to vote, effectively. There are 14 states now that don’t require voter ID. California, where I used to live, just passed a law banning voter ID for voting.

Ha, I still can’t believe that’s real.

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So how are you supposed to have a good, proper election if there’s no ID? It’s meaningless. And free speech—free speech is the bedrock of democracy.

And if people don’t know what’s going on, if they don’t know the truth, how can you how can you make an informed vote?

He also went on to share his support for the Second Amendment as a means of protecting the first amendment, before going on to say that a Trump victory was necessary to “preserve the Constitution and democracy.”

You must have free speech in order to have democracy. That’s why it’s the First Amendment, and the Second Amendment is there to ensure that we have the First Amendment.

President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America. This is a must-win situation. Must-win.

Musk then went on to encourage everyone in the audience, and everyone watching the video, to make sure their loved ones were registered to vote. If they don’t, Musk predicts that this will be the “last election.”

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There’s only two days left to register to vote in Georgia and Arizona, 48 hours. Like text people now, and then, make sure they actually do vote. If they don’t, this will be the last election.

That’s my prediction. Nothing’s more important.

Following Musk’s short speech, Trump continued, going on to talk about recent relief efforts in partnership with SpaceX in North Carolina, in which the company has been working to help deploy Starlink for victims of Hurricane Helene. Trump also aired criticisms of the response of President Joe Biden and election opponent Kamala Harris, while touting Musk and the SpaceX team for getting Starlink out to victims across North Carolina and Georgia.

Musk’s statements echoed many of his recent statements on X, including references to the election as a “must-win” for Trump and running mate JD Vance, and saying the “survival of the Constitution is indeed at risk.”

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Last week, Musk also aired similar claims that this could be the “last election” if Trump does not win, due to claims that enough non-citizens would be able to vote under Harris and running mate Tim Walz and essentially create a “one-party state” nationwide.

Musk officially endorsed Trump in the 2024 election in a post on X in July, immediately following the assassination attempt. Last month, Trump also said that he would appoint Musk to the role of the “Government Efficiency Commission,” adding that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has already agreed.

You can see Musk’s speech on Saturday from Forbes coverage below.

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What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Why automakers keep turning down Elon Musk’s Tesla Full Self-Driving offer

Elon Musk confirms no automaker has ever accepted Tesla’s offer to license Full Self-Driving software.

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Elon Musk gave a brief answer on X Monday that confirmed that Tesla’s standing offer to license Full Self-Driving to other automakers still has zero takers. Sawyer Merritt wrote that “Tesla has for years openly invited other automakers to license FSD. None of them have accepted,” responding to a prediction from Boom Supersonic founder Blake Scholl that Tesla would eventually open FSD the way it opened its Supercharger network to rival brands. Musk’s reply to Merritt was one word: “Exactly.”

It is not the first time Musk has made this point. He said something similar in November, when he called legacy automakers reluctance to adopt FSD “crazy,” and Tesla has floated the offer publicly since at least 2021. Scholl’s prediction touches on something real. Once NACS became the de facto charging standard, adoption from Ford, GM, Rivian and others followed within about a year. FSD licensing was supposed to work the same way once Tesla built enough of a lead that switching made sense for everyone.

The case for licensing now is stronger than it was two years ago. Waymo and Zoox are logging hundreds of thousands of unsupervised autonomous miles, along with Tesla’s own Robotaxi fleet. Every automaker still selling driver assist systems that lag FSD has given the robotaxi conversation to Tesla, Waymo and Zoox by default. Licensing FSD would let a GM or a Ford compete on the same field without spending a decade and billions of dollars building a stack from scratch, the same argument Tesla made when it opened the Supercharger network to bring more EVs onto its chargers.

But FSD is not a connector standard. As one reply to Musk’s post pointed out, licensing FSD is not a software license the way NACS was a plug spec. It requires adopting Tesla’s eight camera layout and its onboard compute architecture, meaning a licensee’s cars would effectively become Tesla hardware wearing someone else’s badge. That is the visible obstacle. The less visible one is data. A licensed FSD stack would report back the same telemetry Tesla collects from its own fleet, giving Tesla a continuous read on how a competitor’s cars are actually driven, where they struggle, and how often drivers intervene. For an automaker trying to build its own autonomy program, or simply trying to keep its build quality and safety record private, handing Tesla that visibility could be a bigger cost than the hardware bill. It is the reason the Supercharger comparison only goes so far. Opening a charging plug cost Tesla very little. Opening FSD would cost a rival something it cannot get back.

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Tesla Roadster is available for order once again following brief hold

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(Credit: luxunsheep/Instagram)

Tesla has reopened reservations for its long-delayed next-generation Roadster, asking buyers for a $50,000 deposit just days before an October 1 reveal event in Waco, Texas. The move revives a reservation process first launched in 2017 and later paused when Tesla pulled pricing from its website in 2021.

The reservation page requires an immediate $5,000 credit-card payment, described as fully refundable, followed by a $45,000 wire transfer due within 10 days, which is identical to what was expected previously. Reservations are not considered final until the wire clears.

The structure matches the 2017 terms Tesla used when it first collected deposits after unveiling a prototype. Tesla has not published a confirmed retail price or production start date on the order page.

The October 1 event is scheduled in Waco, about 90 minutes north of Tesla’s Austin headquarters and near SpaceX’s McGregor rocket test site. Tesla sent invitations to existing reservation holders and posted a “Go for launch” teaser on September 12.

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) established a temporary flight restriction over the McGregor area from September 18 through October 2, consistent with plans for a demonstration involving SpaceX-designed cold-gas thrusters. Elon Musk has previously described the optional package as enabling extreme acceleration or brief hovering. Tesla has said the event will include pricing, specifications, and production targets.

The second-generation Roadster was first shown in November 2017 during Tesla’s Semi launch. Musk promised production in 2020, with claimed performance of 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds, more than 250 mph top speed, and roughly 620 miles of range.

Those targets have slipped repeatedly.

Tesla later pointed to 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025-2026 before indicating production would not begin until 2027 or 2028 at Gigafactory Texas. Design work has continued, with reports of a sharper, Cybertruck-influenced look replacing the original curvy prototype.

Original reservation holders who paid $50,000 in 2017, or $250,000 for the Founders Series, have waited nearly nine years without a production car. Some high-profile customers canceled. Tesla’s decision to reopen orders now, after previously shutting them down, tests whether new buyers will commit substantial funds before seeing a finalized production vehicle. The October 1 event is intended to answer remaining questions about what those buyers will actually receive and when.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving expands to another European country

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is heading to Czechia after the Czech Ministry of Transport recognised the Dutch RDW’s provisional type approval, making the country the seventh EU member state to clear the system for public roads. Tesla Europe announced on 21 September 2026 that “FSD Supervised is now approved in Czechia” and that rollout “will begin soon.”

The decision marks a notable reversal. Earlier in 2026, Prague had declined to automatically recognise the Netherlands’ April approval, citing concerns over speed-limit compliance, traffic-sign recognition and driver-attention monitoring, and arguing that a coordinated EU approach was preferable. Officials said months of expert review, talks with Tesla and other member states, and real-world data from countries already using the system resolved those issues.

“Safety remains the top priority,” the ministry stated.

FSD Supervised remains a Level 2 driver-assistance system: the driver must stay engaged and is legally responsible. Eligible vehicles need AI4, the company’s most up-to-date hardware version. Tesla is expected to push the feature over the air in the coming days, following the pattern seen after earlier national approvals.

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Europe’s rollout began when Dutch regulator RDW issued a provisional EU type approval on 10 April 2026 after extensive testing. Mutual recognition then produced a rapid cascade: Lithuania (20 May), Estonia (29 May), Denmark (9 June), Belgium (10 June) and Slovenia (7 September). Czechia now completes that list of seven.

The approvals cover only a modest share of the EU population, but they add political weight ahead of a 6 October vote by the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles. A qualified majority, at least 15 of 27 member states representing 65 percent of the EU population, could open the remaining markets, including large ones such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain that have so far preferred to wait for a bloc-wide decision.

For Czech Tesla owners, the immediate prize is access to the same supervised highway and city driving already available in the other six countries. For Tesla, each new market generates additional European driving data and strengthens the case that FSD Supervised can operate safely under the continent’s varied road rules. The Czech approval is therefore both a local milestone and another incremental step toward a wider European launch.

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