Last week, multiple outlets reported that Musk had fired Omead Afshar, the head of Tesla’s sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe. The alleged expulsion (Tesla never confirmed what had happened,

The plunge in sales reflect the gains for Chinese EVs, boosted by the troubles at Tesla and the dislike of Musk among those unhappy about his support for conservative causes.

And Musk seemingly can’t let that go. “Physics sees through all lies perfectly,” Musk posted this week on his social-media platform X. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s political power in Washington—which just a few months ago seemed limitless —was always about proximity to the president.