Boycotts protest against Trump and Musk

Tesla owners are increasingly embarrassed to be seen in their cars.

Tesla cars used to be a sign of the liberal, environmentally conscious middle class, but now bring to mind the face of the brand – Elon Musk – who alongside Trump is part of a new US government that is demolishing environmental and social initiatives as fast as it can.

2025 began with Trump’s inauguration, and his appointment of Musk to lead the newly founded US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE has been tasked with reducing federal spending and maximising productivity. Musk has implemented similar changes to those when he took over the social media platform Twitter/X, where he drastically cut staff and ended policies and initiatives that centred on diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI). These changes triggered a boycott of Twitter/X and resulted in the company losing half its advertising revenue. 

As Musk and Trump implement similar changes in government, people are wondering if boycotting could once again be a useful strategy. 

Widescale undoing of progressive programmes

The first days of Trump's presidency saw the US exit the Paris climate agreement and cut foreign aid, which the president says have for too long taken money away from the US economy and burdened tax payers – it’s now time to “put US people first”.

Similarly, the end of federal DEI programmes, which he says have created a bias against white people, is supposed to enable the return of meritocracy – though critics claim those most likely to be granted a position in government are not the most capable, but the most loyal and willing to parrot Trump’s line whatever the issue.

We’ve also seen companies proven to be fickle, with the same brands that published statements in support of Black Lives Matter around 2020 now cancelling DEI initiatives and backtracking on commitments they made when doing so was good for publicity.

With the US president, the world’s richest man (Musk) and giant companies collectively acting to undo progressive changes for the environment and marginalised communities, people worldwide are increasingly wondering – what power do we have to do something about it?

Boycotts as consumer power

There are many ways people can protest governments that don’t align with their values. Just one of these ways is boycotts.

In February 2025, it was announced that Tesla sales almost halved in Europe as part of a consumer backlash against Musk’s role in the US government and his backing of far right sentiments. And a survey showed that a quarter of US shoppers recently dumped one or more of their favourite stores due to their political stances, with 40% recently shifting their spending to align with moral views. This includes boycotting companies like Amazon, Google, McDonalds, Meta and Walmart, which announced rollbacks of DEI initiatives since Trump’s inauguration.

One US resident, Kim Wohlenhaus in Missouri, described why she was boycotting such companies:

“I’m just trying to do little things that make me feel a little bit empowered, to stake my claim against what’s happening and how companies are acting in ways that are opposed to my values … It feels good to be able to do something.”

While individuals are acting on their own initiative, campaign groups are springing up across the US to try to collectivise boycotting efforts.

The website targetfast.org is run by Black faith leaders calling for a 40-day fast against Target, which was a leading corporate voice supporting DEI initiatives following George Floyd’s murder by police, and yet, days after Trump’s inauguration, terminated DEI commitments including its executive committee focused on racial justice.

The Latino Freeze Movement is advocating that people buy only from US businesses that respect the Latino community, in responses to the DEI rollback and increased fear and marginalisation of migrant communities

The organisation People’s Union USA has gained attention for speaking out against billionaires and big corporations’ power, and organised an “economic blackout” – whereby people didn’t spend anything for 24 hours in protest – and week-long protests of, for example, Nestlé, Walmart, and Amazon, in an effort to use spending power to show that regular people can control the economy. 

Are there any strategic campaigns against Musk and Trump?

While, up until around 2020, the #GrabYourWallet campaign organised boycotts of companies linked to Trump in a seemingly transparent and strategic way, at present there is no unified or coordinated campaign to make sense of how boycotting efforts can be most strategically targeted at the current US government and the companies supporting it.

Most boycotting is emerging organically, with some people instinctively choosing to boycott US products altogether. In general though, strategic boycotts tend to have the most real impact.

People are latching onto organising groups that offer direction – but it could be worth exercising caution, even if the objectives seem worthwhile. The People’s Union USA website points repeatedly to its founder in a somewhat adoring way (with a ‘Meet the founder’ page, and his name scattered throughout other pages), has a slightly overwhelming manifesto which presumably comes mostly from the founder, and has received over $95,000 in donations.

How to boycott Musk and Trump from the UK

On 26th January 2025, a new campaign called People Vs Elon launched in the UK. It invites people to commit to making an automatic donation for every one of Musk’s tweets, with proceeds going to organisations that support the communities he has targeted – in particular LGBTQI+, refugee and migrant organisations.

This fundraising has also helped fund Everyone Hates Elon, a collective that says Musk has too much influence over “all of our lives”, and which is trying to bring people together to carry out small acts of resistance. This includes poster activism on the streets of London. 

One example of its 'subvertising' is an apparent advert for a Tesla car, with an image of a recent arm movement Musk did in public which was reminiscent of the Nazi salute, and the words “goes from 0 to 1939 in 3 seconds … Tesla the Swasticar”. 

One of the Everyone Hates Elon group’s spokespeople said

“This is a real moment where people have had enough of billionaires getting involved in our politics."

The group Climate Resistance have also been campaigning to “abolish billionaires”, including 30 people staging a sit-in at a Tesla showroom in opposition to Musk’s high-carbon lifestyle and his support for Trump’s approach to climate change. The campaigners are calling for a 100% wealth tax on assets above $10m, to be used for public service or climate action.

In addition to pointing to the underlying problem of profit tending to find its way into the pockets of a small number of people and granting them undue power, Climate Resistance also opposes unethical practices typical of large companies in general – from working conditions at Tesla mines in Congo, to anti-union stances and toxic workplace cultures.

We’ve also been reflecting at Ethical Consumer on how to further challenge a system that is stacked in favour of billionaire businessmen – read our thoughts on reinventing the corporation in the introduction to our new series on 'Challenging corporate power'.