Trump repeated his warning to those protesting Musk and Tesla in a Friday social media post. He referenced the prisons in El Salvador where his administration deported hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants last week.

He wouldn’t want to put himself in that position.” Today’s Oval Office display is part of a growing trend of Trump and his acolytes jumping to defend Musk’s character, painting the world’s wealthiest person — who has led the dramatic slashing of the federal government — as a model of morality.