Newsom Calls Elon Musk 'One of the Great Disappointments'

Newsom called Musk "one of the great disappointments" on Axios, accusing Tesla CEO of surrendering the electric vehicle market to China.

Objective Facts

California Governor Gavin Newsom described Musk as "one of the great disappointments" of our time on a new episode of "The Axios Show." Newsom praised Musk as this generation's Thomas Edison but then accused him of surrendering the electric vehicle market to China by pivoting Tesla toward robotics. China already holds 70% of the global EV market. Newsom attributed the problem to both Trump administration policies and Musk's strategy, calling it "the greatest [own] goal" of the next decade — ceding not just market share but supply chains, national security and the future of American auto manufacturing. Newsom, on a book tour as he prepares a likely run for president, argued it was California's regulatory environment that created the conditions for Musk, and that Musk still benefits from California's R&D tax credits even while "turning his back" on the state.

Left-Leaning Perspective

Left-leaning outlets reported that the California Governor says Elon Musk has become a "disappointment" for surrendering electric-vehicle innovation to China, arguing that EV pioneer has shifted his focus away from Tesla and toward robotics and humanoid systems, with the actions leaving an opening for Chinese automakers to lap the US in the EV market, flooding their brands globally. Reporting on Tesla's challenges noted that even Tesla, which pioneered the EV industry, is facing pressure and was surpassed by Chinese automaker BYD in EV sales, losing appeal and market share in Europe, while Tesla also canceled its two oldest, lowest-selling electric vehicles to repurpose an American plant for humanoid robots, with Musk increasingly appearing focused elsewhere, especially on robots, driverless taxis and his artificial intelligence company. Some reporting acknowledged that beyond product, Musk's personal remarks and political involvement have hurt the brand, with his attention dispersed—in 2025, Musk focused on winning shareholder approval for a compensation package, building out xAI and participating in politics, reducing his attention to Tesla's auto business, though he shifted focus back to Tesla only in the second half. Left-leaning and mainstream reporting highlighted that after years of dominating the global electric vehicle market, Tesla was toppled by Chinese EV giant BYD in 2025, with BYD outselling the Elon Musk-owned maker by over half a million vehicles, as Tesla lost its global EV leadership position in 2025 with sales declined for a second straight year. The broader narrative on the left frames Musk's pivot away from EVs as abandonment of the industry he pioneered, with particular concern about national security implications and China's dominance. Left-leaning outlets emphasize regulatory support that helped Tesla and suggest Musk now ungratefully disregards his debt to California policy.

Right-Leaning Perspective

Right-leaning outlets have not directly addressed Newsom's March 2026 criticism in the available search results. However, conservative commentary on Musk's broader strategy has framed the AI and robotics pivot as visionary rather than abandonment. Some Wall Street analysts with bullish views on Tesla stated that the goal is to build a foundation for a new era of growth driven by physical AI, with the robotaxi launch schedule being a welcome detail for investors keen on concrete timetables. Musk has publicly framed his robotics vision in expansive terms, stating that if you have ubiquitous AI and ubiquitous robotics you will have an explosion in the global economy, with humanoid robots able to perform industrial tasks, care for aging populations and support families, addressing labour shortages while lowering costs. Regarding Trump administration deregulation, Musk told Trump that as long as EV mandate changes happen to everybody, he will be able to compete, with Trump characterizing this as a very honest answer. The right perspective emphasizes Musk's freedom to pursue AI and robotics as Tesla matures beyond pure EV production, with some noting that Tesla has 62% U.S.-market EV market share, way up from one year ago, with the Model Y and Model 3 remaining the only two successful EV models ever in the U.S. marketplace. Right-leaning outlets have been more focused on defending the Trump administration's EV rollback as pro-market rather than directly defending Musk's strategy choices.

Deep Dive

The core issue is that China holds 70% of the global EV market, and Newsom argues Musk is accelerating that dominance by pivoting Tesla toward robotics. Tesla was toppled by BYD in 2025, with BYD outselling it by over half a million vehicles; Tesla's 2025 sales declined some 16% in the last three months and were down around 8% for all of 2025. However, Tesla's EV market share in the US rose to 53.7% despite overall declining industry sales. Trump rolled back several EV-related initiatives in 2025 from the Biden era, including fuel-efficiency rules and federal tax credits, changes that analysts say raised EV prices and slowed U.S. adoption. This context matters: Newsom's criticism attributes Tesla's retreat to two factors—Musk's strategic choice AND Trump policy—but the causation is debated. Reporting on Europe's weakness noted it reflects changing demand, a strong push by Chinese brands, and Musk's political forays, with beyond product, Musk's personal remarks and political involvement hurting the brand, and his attention being dispersed—in 2025, Musk focused on winning shareholder approval for a compensation package, building out xAI and participating in politics, reducing his attention to Tesla's auto business. The left's case rests partly on Musk's documented divided attention and partly on market realities; the right's case is that AI/robotics represents a genuinely larger opportunity than incremental EV sales. Tesla guided to $20bn in capex for 2026 before $2bn investment in xAI, with this being a large inflection in spending to fund ambitious AI goals, and bulls viewing this as confirmatory of their thesis. Newsom omits that Tesla's China-made electric vehicle sales rose in the first two months of 2026, with combined January and February sales rising by more than 35% year-on-year. This suggests Tesla may be recovering in the world's largest EV market despite his pivot announcement. What remains unresolved: whether Musk's robotics bet will deliver returns sufficient to justify EV market share losses, and whether analysts' assessment that Trump's rollback of federal tax credits slowed U.S. adoption absolves Musk of responsibility for Tesla's strategic choices. The left attributes the problem to Musk's choices during a critical moment; the right suggests he is adapting rationally to a landscape transformed by Trump policy and Chinese competition that even an all-in EV strategy could not defeat.

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Newsom Calls Elon Musk 'One of the Great Disappointments'

Newsom called Musk "one of the great disappointments" on Axios, accusing Tesla CEO of surrendering the electric vehicle market to China.

Mar 25, 2026
What's Going On

California Governor Gavin Newsom described Musk as "one of the great disappointments" of our time on a new episode of "The Axios Show." Newsom praised Musk as this generation's Thomas Edison but then accused him of surrendering the electric vehicle market to China by pivoting Tesla toward robotics. China already holds 70% of the global EV market. Newsom attributed the problem to both Trump administration policies and Musk's strategy, calling it "the greatest [own] goal" of the next decade — ceding not just market share but supply chains, national security and the future of American auto manufacturing. Newsom, on a book tour as he prepares a likely run for president, argued it was California's regulatory environment that created the conditions for Musk, and that Musk still benefits from California's R&D tax credits even while "turning his back" on the state.

Left says: Left-leaning outlets reported that Newsom blasts Musk for abandoning the EV race, noting the California Governor says Elon Musk has become a "disappointment" for surrendering electric-vehicle innovation to China, as he has shifted his focus away from Tesla and toward robotics and humanoid systems, leaving an opening for Chinese automakers to lap the US in the EV market.
Right says: Right-leaning sources do not appear to have offered direct substantive responses to Newsom's specific March 2026 criticism. However, conservatives have broadly defended Musk's autonomy and AI pivot, with some analysts viewing it as a legitimate business strategy and others emphasizing that Tesla remains dominant in the US EV market despite broader sector challenges.
✓ Common Ground
Some voices across the spectrum acknowledge that EV registrations in the US dropped 41% in January 2026 compared to January 2025, with loss of federal incentives and low consumer interest driving automakers back to gas and hybrid vehicles.
Critics on both sides have noted that the company remains heavily dependent on Musk's reputation and focus, with any further distractions or controversies remaining a primary concern, and the board continuing to face scrutiny over Musk's divided attention between Tesla, X (formerly Twitter), and SpaceX.
There appears to be growing acknowledgment that in China, the strain stems from intensifying competition with domestic scale players whose flexibility in cost control and channel penetration is turning competition into full-system contests, with Tesla's smart-tech edge fading and FSD's slow rollout in China pushing potential buyers toward local smart EV brands.
Objective Deep Dive

The core issue is that China holds 70% of the global EV market, and Newsom argues Musk is accelerating that dominance by pivoting Tesla toward robotics. Tesla was toppled by BYD in 2025, with BYD outselling it by over half a million vehicles; Tesla's 2025 sales declined some 16% in the last three months and were down around 8% for all of 2025. However, Tesla's EV market share in the US rose to 53.7% despite overall declining industry sales. Trump rolled back several EV-related initiatives in 2025 from the Biden era, including fuel-efficiency rules and federal tax credits, changes that analysts say raised EV prices and slowed U.S. adoption. This context matters: Newsom's criticism attributes Tesla's retreat to two factors—Musk's strategic choice AND Trump policy—but the causation is debated.

Reporting on Europe's weakness noted it reflects changing demand, a strong push by Chinese brands, and Musk's political forays, with beyond product, Musk's personal remarks and political involvement hurting the brand, and his attention being dispersed—in 2025, Musk focused on winning shareholder approval for a compensation package, building out xAI and participating in politics, reducing his attention to Tesla's auto business. The left's case rests partly on Musk's documented divided attention and partly on market realities; the right's case is that AI/robotics represents a genuinely larger opportunity than incremental EV sales. Tesla guided to $20bn in capex for 2026 before $2bn investment in xAI, with this being a large inflection in spending to fund ambitious AI goals, and bulls viewing this as confirmatory of their thesis. Newsom omits that Tesla's China-made electric vehicle sales rose in the first two months of 2026, with combined January and February sales rising by more than 35% year-on-year. This suggests Tesla may be recovering in the world's largest EV market despite his pivot announcement.

What remains unresolved: whether Musk's robotics bet will deliver returns sufficient to justify EV market share losses, and whether analysts' assessment that Trump's rollback of federal tax credits slowed U.S. adoption absolves Musk of responsibility for Tesla's strategic choices. The left attributes the problem to Musk's choices during a critical moment; the right suggests he is adapting rationally to a landscape transformed by Trump policy and Chinese competition that even an all-in EV strategy could not defeat.

◈ Tone Comparison

Newsom and left outlets use emotionally charged language—"disappointment," "breaks my heart," "surrendering," "ceding"—that frames Musk's actions as a personal betrayal and national loss. Right-leaning outlets are more clinical, discussing "strategic pivots" and "evolution," with language emphasizing Musk's right to choose his company's direction and his rational response to market conditions. The left's tone implies moral obligation; the right's implies business pragmatism.

✕ Key Disagreements
Whether Tesla's pivot to AI/robotics represents strategic abandonment of the EV market or rational business evolution
Left: Newsom and left-leaning outlets argue that Musk is abandoning Tesla's core mission during a critical moment when China is taking market share, with his divided attention and focus on robotics leaving an opening for competitors.
Right: Conservative analysts and Musk himself contend that the AI and robotics opportunity is legitimately larger than incremental EV gains, with the pivot reflecting a necessary evolution of the company as the EV market matures and faces policy uncertainty.
Responsibility for Tesla's market share losses
Left: Newsom assigns primary blame to Musk's strategic choices and pivot away from EVs, though he also acknowledges Trump administration policy rollbacks.
Right: Right-leaning sources emphasize that federal EV incentive elimination and Trump's policy reversals created an environment where Tesla cannot compete on traditional EV production alone, making Musk's strategic shift a rational response.
Tesla's ongoing viability in the EV sector
Left: Left outlets emphasize that Tesla lost its global EV leadership to BYD, with a 17% year-on-year plunge in Tesla sales across the EU and UK, marking the 13th consecutive month of decline for the brand in the region, with Tesla's European market share shriveling to 0.8%, while Chinese rival BYD saw registrations surge by 165%.
Right: Right-leaning sources note that despite overall declining industry sales, Tesla's EV market share rose to 53.7%, and that Tesla's China-made electric vehicle sales rose in the first two months of 2026 by more than 35% year-on-year, suggesting Tesla is recovering even as Musk diversifies.