US President Donald Trump has congratulated Elon Musk on his decision to build Tesla’s new vehicle assembly plant in Texas.
“Great job by Elon Musk in agreeing to build, in TEXAS [sic], what is expected to be the largest auto plant anywhere in the world,” said Trump in a tweet. “Texas and Tesla are big winners.”
Great job by @elonmusk in agreeing to build, in TEXAS, what is expected to be the largest auto plant anywhere in the world. He kept his word to me. Texas & @Tesla are big winners. MADE IN THE USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2020
Yesterday, Musk revealed Tesla has decided it’ll build its second — and largest — vehicle assembly plant near Austin, Texas. The announcement put an end to a heated race between Texas and Oklahoma to secure a massive $1.1 billion investment from the electric vehicle company, which plans to employ a minimum of 5,000 workers in the new facility.
Among other things, Tesla promised employees will receive a minimum hourly wage of $15, in addition to other benefits like health insurance and paid leave.
An operation of this magnitude would’ve been a welcome boon to the economy of any state, which is why Texas and Oklahoma had been courting Tesla with offers for tax rebates and subsidies over the past several months.
Tulsa’s Golden Driller statue repainted to look like Tesla’s Elon Musk https://t.co/dZSQvCsoPT
— AR Democrat-Gazette (@ArkansasOnline) May 21, 2020
In fact, the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma went as far as repainting the face of its famed Golden Driller statue to look like Musk himself (whether the revamped statue bears any resemblance to the Tesla leader is a whole different question).
Still, it seems Musk ultimately seems to think that $60 million in tax breaks over the next decade is a sweeter deal than his face on a 23-meterstatue.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.