Hundreds of Tesla owners have hatched ‘plans’ out of ’embarrassment’ as the company’s CEO has been accused of making a ‘Nazi salute’ during Donald Trump’s inauguration rally.

Elon Musk is at the center of controversy after the billionaire tech mogul appeared to make a bizarre gesture during the president’s inauguration ceremony yesterday (January 20).

The SpaceX founder and Twitter owner was accused of doing a ‘Nazi salute’ while onstage at the Capitol One Arena, Washington.

The 53-year-old appeared to be excited by the idea of sending an American to Mars, during which he thumped his chest with his fist and shot his arm at a certain angle.

He commented: “Thank you for making it happen. Thank you, my heart goes out to you,” before turning back to the audience and repeating the move towards the American flag.

Dozens of viewers flooded social media with their thoughts on the matter, accusing Musk of making a ‘Sieg Heil’ as clear as day’ – and not only once, but twice.

Musk himself has addressed the comments on his Twitter account while the Anti-Defamation League claimed it was an ‘awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm’ as opposed to a ‘Nazi salute’.

However, it seems some of Musk’s customers have been left uncomfortable by the slip up.

Over on Reddit, thousands of Tesla owners have been debating how they feel about their vehicles after the incident, with the question posed by the OP: “Are you going to do anything about it?”

Customers claim they won’t buy a Tesla again (Christian Marquardt – Pool/Getty Images)

Some claimed the move had completely turned them off from ever investing in a Tesla, while several resigned to trying to flog them out of ’embarrassment’ to be seen driving them and said they never would have forked out had Musk pulled such a stunt before.

Others said they feel ‘stuck’ with their vehicle for now but vowed never to purchase another Tesla.

One user replied: “I’m stuck with my car for now but I won’t be buying another Tesla.”

Another added: “I don’t have the financial freedom to take a huge loss selling my vehicle. Instead, I simply won’t give Tesla any more money going forward, and my next vehicle upgrade will probably come sooner than it may have otherwise.”

While a third claimed: “I’m 100 percent buying an EV and 100 percent not a Tesla in the next 12 months before of Elon only… Would have probably bought a Tesla otherwise.”

The comments come as thousands report issues with the Tesla Cybertruck (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The comments come as already Tesla’s brand value took a whopping $15,000,000,000 hit due to issues with the Cybertruck build and millions being recalled.

But Brand Finance CEO David Haigh also suggested Musk’s actions have played a part, too.

He said: “If you are buying electric vehicles, his persona is highly likely to impact your view of whether or not you want to buy one of his company’s cars, but that’s only one of many factors.”

UNILAD has contacted Tesla for comment.

US President Donald Trump agreed it’s ‘never acceptable to assault a police officer’ before justifying the release of a January 6 convict who assaulted an officer with a taser.

On Monday (January 20), Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.

Within 24 hours, he issued a pardon for around 1,500 criminals convicted for their involvement in the Capitol Riots which saw violent attacks on police protecting the Capitol building in Washington – with the events of January 6 seeing over 140 police officers injured and at least seven people dead.

Daniel Joseph ‘DJ’ Rodriguez attacked officer Michael Fanone with a stun gun to his neck, with Rodriguez pleading guilty to felony conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, tampering with documents or proceedings and inflicting bodily injury on officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon, according to NBC News.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

During a press briefing at the White House, a reporter asked Trump: “You would agree it’s never acceptable to assault a police officer?”

In a clip of the press conference shared online by Forbes, the president responds: “Sure.”

Trump’s initial response? “I don’t know” (KENNY HOLSTON/THE NEW YORK TIMES/AFP via Getty Images)

The journalist continues: “So then if I can, among those you pardon, DJ Rodriguez he drove a stun gun into the neck of a DC police officer who was abducted by the mob that day.

“He later confessed on video to the FBI and pleaded guilty for his crimes – why does he deserve a pardon?”

Trump’s first response saw him state: “Well, I don’t know.”

He then continued: “Is it a pardon? Because we’re looking at commutes and we’re looking at pardons. Okay well, we’ll take a look at everything but I can say this, murderers today are not even charged, you have murderers that aren’t charged all over.”

Oh, and Trump was only just getting started.

Mentioning Philadelphia and Los Angeles, Trump reflected that ‘people murder people and they don’t get charged’ arguing the people he’s pardoning ‘have already served yers in prison and uh, they’ve served them viciously, it’s a disgusting prison, it’s been horrible, it’s inhumane, it’s been a terrible thing’.

He continued: “I also say this, you go to Portland where they wrapped police officers, shot police officers, nothing happened to anybody. You go to Seattle where they took over a big chunk of the city and people died, Portland a lot of people died […] and you also go take a look at Minneapolis because I was there and I watched it and if I didn’t bring in the National Guard that city wouldn’t even exist today, people were killed and nobody went to jail.”

Trump resolved those he’s pardoning have ‘already served a long period of time’ and it was his ‘decision’ to set them free, instead directing reporters to look at former US President Joe Biden instead.

He said: “Joe Biden gave a pardon yesterday to a lot of criminals – these are criminals he gave a pardon to and you should be asking that question: Why did he give a pardon to all of these people that committed crimes? Why did he give a pardon to the J6 unselect committee when they burned and destroyed all documents that showed that they did what was wrong, not me? Why did they give a pardon to all of his relatives – his brother who made millions of dollars.

“To all these different people he gave pardons that’s the question you should be answering.”

And Trump isn’t only pardoning the individual named by the reporter but around 1,500 criminal defendants charged in the January 6 Capitol attack.

Trump wasted no time signing off a few executive orders upon his return to The White House (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Within the first 24 hours of being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, Trump wasted no time signing off on multiple executive orders including one under a section titled ‘Ending the Weaponization of the federal government’.

The White House’s page states under prior administration, the Department of Justice ‘ruthlessly prosecuted more than 1,500 individuals associated with January 6’.

Trump accused the past administration of ‘inflicting political pain’ rather than ‘pursuing actual justice or legitimate government objectives’ against Americans who ‘spoke out against previous administration’s actions and other Americans who were simply exercising constitutionally protected rights’.

The order links to a presidential action pardoning multiple individuals ‘convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to time served as of January 20, 2025’ alongside granting ‘a full, complete or unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events’ on the same day too.

The White House’s website states: “This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.”

Donald Trump has slammed ‘the so-called Bishop’ who issued a ‘plea’ to him about immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community in a brutal statement on Truth Social.

On Monday (January 20), Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the US and within 24 hours signed off multiple executive orders including policies stating there are ‘only two genders’ and blocking immigrants from being able to enter – and remain as easily in – the country.

What has Trump said about the LGBTQ+ community?

One of Trump’s executive orders which he signed yesterday reads in part: “Agencies will cease pretending that men can be women and women can be men when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination.

“These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”

The order will also bring to an end ‘wasteful’ government programmes which promote diversity and inclusivity, as well as ‘defending women from gender ideology extremism’.

The president signed several executive orders (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

He previously promised to order all federal agencies to end programmes that ‘promote … gender transition at any age’, and pledged to cut funding from hospitals providing gender-affirming care.

What has Trump said about immigration?

Trump issued a slew of immigration-related policies during his first day back in the White House as he declared illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border a national emergency.

Trump has already gotten started on reversing several Biden-era immigration orders and has plans to send US troops to help immigration agents and restrict refugees.

The president has also got the wheels in motion to prevent children of immigrants in the US illegally from having citizenship.

Speaking at his inauguration, he said: “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”

Mariann Edgar Budde asks for ‘mercy’

Yesterday, Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde appealed to the new president to show ‘mercy’ on the LGBTQ+ community and immigrants. Take a look:

During a service at the Washington National Cathedral on January 21, Rev. Budde reflected on the ‘millions’ who’ve placed ‘their trust’ in Trump, appealing to him ‘in the name of our God’ that he has ‘mercy upon the people in the country who are scared now’.

“There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives,” she calmly continued.

“And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labour in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”

Trump hits back in lengthy statement

Shortly after the service, Trump commented he ‘didn’t think it was a good service’ and has since taken to his platform Truth Social earlier today (January 22), writing: “The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way.”

And he didn’t stop there, either.

Donald Trump took to Truth to condemn the ‘so-called Bishop’ (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The post continues: “She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA.

“Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job!”

Trump demanded an apology from the bishop and church (Truth/ @realDonaldTrump)

Trump’s post resolves: “She and her church owe the public an apology! t.”

UNILAD has contacted Washington National Cathedral for comment.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT national hotline at 888-843-4564, available Monday to Friday 4pm-12am ET and 12pm-5pm ET on Saturdays.

A body language expert has shared her thoughts on how Donald Trump and JD Vance really felt when bishop Mariann Budde asked them to ‘have mercy’ on members of the LGBTQ+ community as he regains power of the country.

The Right Rev Mariann Budde made her comments at a church service held Tuesday January 21, the day after Trump was sworn in on January 20, just a day after he signed an order officially declaring there are only two sexes.

The church service is a traditional part of inauguration day in the United States, and Trump was joined by his vice president, Vance, as Budde gave her sermon at St. John’s Church in Washington, DC.

Budde aimed her comments towards the new leaders of the United States as she said: “Let me make one final plea, Mr President. Millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday you have felt the providential hand of a loving God.

“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives.”

Trump and Vance seemed to give little away as they listened to Budde, but body language expert Judi James has shared her insights after watching the scene and revealed the new president did in fact ‘leak out’ some feelings.

Trump attended the church service before his inauguration (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Speaking to The Mirror, she said: “Trump’s first roasting came early and from the unexpected source of a pulpit. As the bishop begged for mercy for immigrants, transgender and gay children etc there was a bristling among Trump’s group as a whole.

“Trump managed something close to a poker face but he managed to leak out feelings of impatience and brewing irritation via some of his subtler non-verbal signals.”

According to James, Trump begins by ‘implying he is going to keep his thoughts to himself via a cut-off gesture as he glances downward’.

She continued: “When the bishop talks about ‘people who pick crops and labour in poultry farms’ he taps his order of service in a metronomic ritual of impatience. His mouth falls slightly open and then his jaw slews to the right and he turns his torso to look to the side in the most emphatic reaction before looking down at his program again.”

Trump and Vance kept their faces neutral at the service (C-Span)

When it comes to Vance, James claimed the vice president was ‘more open’ in his response to Budde.

She said: “When the children are mentioned, he glances at his wife in a more obvious gesture of rejection and his eyes come back to the front with a partial, wry smile. He turns to his wife twice then raises his brows in an expression of mock surprise before studying his program. At one point he tries to catch Trump’s eye in a tie-sign signal that suggests a desire to show unity and support.”

Budde has received a lot of praise for her decision to raise her concerns with Trump and Vance directly, with viewers online celebrating her ‘courage’.