• Leslie Redmond, 38, moved from Anchorage, Alaska, to Winnipeg, Canada, in 2022.
• Redmond said Canada is similar to the US but has more of a collectivist mentality.
• She feels caught in the middle of the tense, emotional Canadian-American tariff debate.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Leslie Redmond, a 38-year-old assistant professor at the University of Manitoba who moved from the US to Canada in 2022. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

I'm originally from Virginia, but in 2019, I moved to Alaska to work at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. I loved it there and thought it would be my forever home. But after three months, I met my future husband by coincidence, and everything changed.

At the time, he worked for the federal government in the Yukon, a remote Canadian territory roughly an eight-hour drive from Anchorage. After a year of dating, we got married, which coincided with his placement in the Yukon ending in 2020. At that point, we had to decide what was next.

We concluded that living in Canada made the most sense.

As an academic, it would be easier for me to find a job there than for my husband to find one in the US. Being Canadian, he wouldn't immediately have had the same clearance or career opportunities in the federal government.

Canada's culture also appealed to me, as it feels more progressive. As someone working in public health nutrition, its collectivist mentality also aligns with my values.

Immigrating to Canada was fairly easy

I've always enjoyed adventure. I've moved around a lot, going to places I knew nothing about and where I knew no one.

For me, moving to Canada was more exciting than stressful. The anxiety I felt mainly stemmed from the legal process — there were so many details to manage.

Living with my husband in the Yukon, where the nearest grocery store was a 10-hour round trip, made gathering paperwork like police records, taking English, and getting medical exams even more challenging, especially during COVID-19.

There are several ways to immigrate to Canada, including marriage, but we didn't want to take that route. Instead, we applied through Canada's Federal Skilled Worker Program, designed for skilled professionals in high demand.

The process is based on a points system, where factors like education and age can help you score highly. We felt my credentials were competitive, and this pathway would be faster than applying solely based on our marriage.

Despite the paperwork, the process was relatively easy for me. I'm fortunate to be healthy, have English as my first language, and have plenty of resources. I recognize my privilege in having such an easy experience. I understand that people from countries with different governments or languages and fewer resources face far more barriers.

In 2022, I moved to Manitoba, a prairie province of Canada, and received permanent residency. The process took significantly longer due to COVID since many workers were out or working from home, and the building had capacity limits, causing extended wait times. I believe the process has become more reasonable recently.

Canadians have a 'collectivist mentality'

If you can picture North and South Dakota, you can picture Manitoba. I live in Winnipeg, the capital city of about 700,000 people.

Winters here are typically -20° Fahrenheit and can reach extreme lows, with prairie winds bringing temperatures down to -40° Fahrenheit.

Many movies are made in Winnipeg, as the area is often used to represent historic downtowns of cities like Chicago or Minneapolis.

I'm working as an assistant professor in nutritional science at the University of Manitoba. We live in a neighborhood near the university in a single-family, four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom home that we purchased for just over $500,000. You can definitely find homes here that cost much more.

Our home is not a new build; it was constructed around 1984. Given the housing shortages and rising demand, it's possible the price was a bit inflated, but we still feel comfortable with what we paid and believe it was a fair value.

I've noticed there are many similarities between the US and Canada, like higher education, career opportunities, and cultural values. From sports to music, the social and entertainment scenes are quite alike, making it easy for someone from the US to fit right in.

The biggest difference, which I'm more attuned to because of my profession in nutrition, is the collectivist mentality here. The people I met in Canada seemed more focused on the common good. This is evident in aspects like healthcare, where many accept that it might be more expensive, but it's available for all.

There's a sense of, "I'm not just being taken care of, but my neighbors are, too." Many people are generally happy to support systems that ensure access to healthcare and childcare. While this mindset exists in the US, I find it more prevalent here.

The cost of living is rising in Canada

Winnipeg is considered one of the most affordable cities in Canada, and many people justify living here despite the harsh winters.

However, I'd say it's more expensive than living in the States, mainly due to taxes that fund social services and various environmental initiatives, such as carbon taxes.

Still, like many Canadians, I'm OK with it because I'm contributing to a system that benefits everyone.

Food prices have risen recently, and grocery shopping in Winnipeg is significantly more expensive than across the border in North Dakota — at least twice as much. However, my husband and I both have well-paying jobs, so we're in a good position to adapt to these challenges.

Winter also brings added costs, like the need for winter tires and increased car maintenance — something many living in a cold climate likely experience.

On the bright side, heating and electricity are more affordable than expected, thanks to being primarily hydro-powered.

Canadians aren't happy about US tariffs

Many Canadians are confused about the tariffs and the presidential election. I often hear colleagues and friends express disbelief, asking, "How did America let this happen?"

I can only speak from my own experience. As an American living here, I'm in a unique position, hearing perspectives from both sides of the border — from my American and Canadian friends and family.

I think many people in Canada initially saw American politics as a spectator sport, watching with interest, almost like reality TV, but remaining detached. I found that frustrating because I knew there would be consequences for everyone.

Now, many Canadians are realizing they'll be affected. I hear strong opinions that are completely valid.

Overall, my family and acquaintances here still see Americans as decent people but are shocked and disappointed by the presidential administration's lack of respect for Canada.

This has become a rallying cry for many to unite, show patriotism, and take action. Many support Canadian-made products, buy locally, and stand firm rather than just complain.

Moving to Canada was a great decision

My husband and I plan to continue living in Canada despite the changes. We have an 18-month-old and another baby on the way.

There are great benefits to raising children here. For example, I get a generous 12-month maternity leave with full pay, which is standard. There's also subsidized childcare, costing just a few dollars a day, compared to the several thousand a month my friends pay in the US.

Looking back, I don't think I would have taken the initiative to move to Canada on my own. I would have kept quiet and just talked about it, but the opportunity to live here has offered many benefits.

It was a great choice, and I don't regret it.

• Two college students bought undeveloped land in rural Virginia, hoping to build a luxury retreat.
• The two friends from high school reconnected in college and decided to start the venture together.
• Graduating in May, they plan to open their first cabin in July.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Rajan Chidambaram and Renzo Sanio, two college students at the University of Virginia (UVA) and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The two 22-year-old friends who met in high school are set to graduate in May. In July, they plan to open Royal Oak Retreat, a luxury cabin in Front Royal, Virginia, a rural town about 70 miles outside Washington, DC. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Renzo: I've always been told when you're young, it's the best time to take risks. I was just waiting for the right opportunity to find a development deal that I could partake in.

I went to college, studying physics, and eventually added Building Construction as my second major — but it didn't seem creative enough. So, I added Real Estate as a second major in my sophomore year. I was excited because you can see the whole development process from the start.

Rajan: Renzo and I actually reconnected in Texas. I was working in Dallas and visiting another friend in Austin. Renzo just happened to be there. That's where I first got introduced to real-estate development. Now, I'm majoring in IT and Real Estate.

Renzo: I was working in a commercial-development internship in Austin. I shared the idea to buy investment land with Rajan while he was working at JP Morgan in Dallas, and that was, in a way, the start of our partnership.

We wanted to diversify our investments with real estate

Rajan: I've been selling shoes for a very long time, and I saved up a lot of money over the last five years. I wanted to park some of it in real estate. The inspiration to get into real estate came from my dad who suggested I look into it. I already had a lot of money in the stock market, so I wanted to diversify a little bit.

I bought a property on my 21st birthday. It was a single-family townhouse for $295,000, about five minutes away from UVA, so it's holding its value very well. I rented it out to a family that lives there.

Renzo: There was a 24-year-old in Texas who built a retreat for $2.5 million and then sold it two years later for $7 million. And I thought that if I could do a very similar thing, just in a market closer to where my home was, we would exceed.

Rajan: Renzo brought me this deal. He's the one who found it, he's the one who sourced it, he's the one who did the research, and he just brought me along.

My dad started his own company, and before I even explained it, he was like, "Just go do it." I'm very grateful that he had full faith in me to do my own thing.

We think we can make $100,000 per cabin a year

Renzo: Our property is 2.5 acres in Front Royal, Virginia. We got it under contract for $37,000 right after Thanksgiving 2024. We bought it free and clear.

Rajan: We closed on January 10. We've started clearing the land but have not started putting the foundation in yet.

Renzo: The 2.5 acres are subdivided into four parcels, and the end goal is to have four luxury cabins.

I bought the plans for the cabins for $2,000, probably six months before we bought the land. I had to buy them to know how much it would cost to build them, which would be used in our financial model.

We're using a $300,000 construction loan to build the first cabin, which kind of maxes out our financial capacity. Our finances are limiting us in that sense, so we're going to build the remaining three in phases.

We definitely needed cosigners for the loans — some conversations with parents and easing their concerns opened up the possibility for us to see this through.

Once we get full-time roles, our capacity for debt should increase. So, we might consider building all three at the same time.

Our financial model projects $100,000 in revenue per cabin annually. While $100,000 looks sexy, hospitality is expensive to operate.

We discovered Front Royal is one of Virginia's strongest short-term rental markets because it's so close to DC — it's only one hour away.

As for the market side, the downturns aren't really a concern. If the market dips and people find themselves in unfavorable financial situations, we expect that in-state travel will increase, which will benefit us.

Rajan: We expect to be fully hands-on. This is not an investment; this is a business that we're starting.

And I think it starts with the marketing. That's why I'm really pushing content out on my page. We also have a branded page for Royal Oak Retreat, and the whole point behind that is by the time we open, I want to build up our personal brand so big that when we open, we have a direct bookings funnel.

We don't want to rely on Airbnb or Vrbo because they take a percentage of what we would charge. We want to have our own direct booking site.

I think by the time we open, people are going to be so bought into our story. If you want to book out for a whole year, that's only 365 people, and right now, we have 47,000 people following our journey.

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• Older Americans are facing tough choices amid market and economic uncertainty.
• The stock market's decline and policy changes have heightened some fears of financial instability.
• Some retirees remain optimistic, while others fear policy impacts on their retirement income.

Many older Americans are at a crossroads: Should they brave the market and hope it bounces back, or rethink their retirement plans?

Business Insider spoke this week to nearly a dozen older Americans about how they view their retirement amid a wave of market and economic uncertainty. While some said they're fearful inflation could tick up or their retirement funds may not recover, others are more optimistic and expect the market to rebound.

The S&P 500 fell over 10% from recent highs in mid-February and 6% year to date before ticking back up Friday, triggering recession anxiety on Wall Street and hitting many older Americans' retirement investments. President Donald Trump's shifting tariff policies and DOGE-led federal government cuts also mean some older Americans fear higher grocery or medical bills.

Many older adults BI spoke with said they feel financially comfortable and will not be significantly affected by federal policy changes. But others said they're scared they will have trouble paying their bills or accessing government aid.

We want to hear from you. Are you an older American comfortable sharing your retirement outlook with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form.

Some retirees aren't too worried about their finances

A few older Americans told BI they're cautiously optimistic about their financial futures despite this rough patch in the market.

Karen Keane, 64, said that while she's nervous about the long-term, she's in a better financial position than many of her peers.

Keane worked in finance for a Fortune 100 company in South Florida and took a voluntary buyout a few years ago that included medical insurance, though she's been unable to find another midlevel management job.

"My money is gone, and I have had to dip into my 401(k) to pay bills. I also lost my health insurance in 2023 and had to go on my husband's," Keane said, adding her retirement forecast from 2019 has come up short amid price increases.

Keane said she and her husband are preparing to sell their house and plan to move to West Virginia for lower living costs.

Keane advised taking a steady view of your retirement savings: "Don't panic and stay diversified. Look at your savings as a supplement to Social Security. Figure out where, why, and how you want to spend your retirement."

For some retirees with larger assets and higher income streams, the last few weeks haven't caused much concern.

William Kent, 73, worked until 72 as a vice president of corporate relations and runs a consulting business. Kent said he counterbalances the downward market trend by investing in energy stocks that are up this year. He expects Social Security won't change or be touched by Congress anytime soon.

"There will continue to be uncertainty as our country attempts to find ways out of our current economic mess, and if Americans don't have control over their own lives and depend too much on the government, they will continue to be faced with uncertainty," Kent said, citing federal deficit spending and long-term debts as a particular concern. "Each of us is responsible for our own actions."

Still, even Trump voters who trusted his vision for the economy said they doubt this level of volatility is sustainable.

Joseph Dennis, 73, voted for Trump but wishes the administration's decisions on tariffs and federal cuts were less extreme, adding he's concerned about the market's volatility.

Dennis started multiple businesses and retired at 51 after diversifying his portfolio and staying in conservative investments. He grew his wealth by buying rental properties after the 2007 real estate crash, and he keeps much of his money in cash CDs and money market funds.

"I hope he knows what he's doing, but I'm not so sure," Dennis said.

Many fear coming policy changes and an economic downturn

Meanwhile, the market downturn and policy uncertainty have heightened fears for older Americans in more vulnerable financial situations.

Peter Young, 69, worries his finances will become even tighter over the next few months.

Young retired at 62 with decent savings after years as a manufacturing manager and electronics technician. But after struggling to secure more work and with his health declining, he ate through his savings, had his car repossessed, and lost some medical coverage.

Young, who has terminal cancer, was disenrolled from Medicaid in Nevada last year for making too much from Supplemental Security Income. He anticipates with government cuts and the market downturn, he'll face increasing financial hurdles as his health declines.

"This country is in for its roughest ride in 80 years, and that will impact us all no matter what," Young said. He added his retirement "sure won't be the Golden Years of Hollywood and AARP, but then again, as trite as it sounds, it could always be worse."

Some older Americans with more financial security still feel the immediate effects of Trump's economic policies.

Ed Harris, 69, said he lives comfortably in Arizona as a retired product engineer. Though satisfied with his economic condition, he said he's worried about middle- and lower-income Americans who may experience hardship in the next few months. "Gas prices, groceries, drugs, and even medical prices are up," Harris said, noting he's nervous that many older Americans may be left without Medicaid benefits if the program faces deep cuts from Congress later this year.

Gloria Rodriguez, 69, fears the economy may not improve enough for her to get back on her feet. Rodriguez said her Social Security is not enough for her to live, and she became homeless after her husband died a few years ago. Rodriguez now stays with with a friend but fears she may not find a place to live on her own given rising costs and little income.

"I am very afraid of the way the world is today, with so much uncertainty and people losing their money and jobs," Rodriguez said.

Market volatility worries people still approaching retirement, too

Margarita Sdoukos, 49, and her husband are worried they may have to delay their retirement. They planned to stop working in six years, but Sdoukos doubts they can afford it.

Sdoukos said they have lost "tens of thousands" of dollars in the stock market since January and are shifting to safer investments for their 401(k), even if they are less lucrative. She's also cashing out her teacher's pension due to "uncertainty in the government" and is concerned about potential changes to Social Security.

Eight financial advisors and wealth managers told BI this week that older Americans shouldn't panic. Now is a good time for those with fewer savings or without a retirement plan to consider crafting one and cutting back on unnecessary spending, they agreed.

"We don't even think about retirement right now," Sdoukos said. "We're just trying to get through these next four years."

• Six years after LA County's Woolsey fire, many destroyed homes haven't been rebuilt.
• Rebuilding is costly, emotionally taxing, and often delayed by complex red tape.
• Two families say they might not have rebuilt their homes if they'd understood how hard it would be.

Thousands of homeowners in Los Angeles are figuring out a way forward after the Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed 16,000 homes and properties across the county. But some of their neighbors who lost their homes in past fires warn that rebuilding will likely be harder than expected.

Two families whose Malibu homes burned down in the 2018 Woolsey fire told BI they might have sold their properties and moved on if they'd known how lengthy, complicated, expensive, and emotionally taxing the rebuilding process would be.

That might be why, more than six years after the Woolsey fire destroyed more than 1,600 structures and burned 97,000 acres, only about 40% of the homes that were lost have been replaced.

Construction costs will likely be even higher for victims of LA's most recent fires, as the scale of the destruction far outstrips past fires and will squeeze a building industry already facing a labor shortage, elevated building material costs, and overwhelming demand.

Losing a home filled with art

Jon Krawczyk always knew there was a chance he could lose his Malibu home to a wildfire. But he didn't really believe it until it happened.

"They say there's a reason young men go to war because they don't think they're going to die, right?" he told BI. "I left thinking I'll come back tomorrow, and it'll be here."

It's been two and half years since Krawczyk, a metal sculptor, and his wife, an art consultant, finally broke ground on rebuilding their home of 18 years. That came after a seemingly endless back-and-forth with government officials over permitting and approvals for their project. Krawczyk said authorities required them to rebuild the same structures they had before, even though they wanted one building instead of three, and less square footage.

Krawczyk, who lost his studio and all his equipment on the property, said he initially thought rebuilding would cost about $1.6 million and take about three years, but it's ended up costing north of $2.2 million and taken close to six years.

The Krawczyks had paid off the mortgage on their home six months before the fire and were able to evacuate with their two teenage kids to a family home. A few months later, they used their insurance payout to buy a home in nearby Thousand Oaks, where they've lived since 2019.

While they received their maximum insurance payout and money from a $2.2 billion settlement with Southern California Edison, they lost their insurance provider and had to resort to California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort. The plan has high premiums and caps payouts at $3 million.

The couple hopes to get the final occupancy permit and move into their new house this spring in time to host their son's wedding. But if Krawczyk could turn back time, he's not sure he would've gone through with rebuilding.

"If I knew then what I know now, I may have just walked away," he said, "because it is not fun."

Leaving Malibu

Bill and Leslie Bixley had lived in their home in the Malibu hills for about 20 years when the Woolsey fire reduced it to ash.

It didn't take long for the couple to get their first payout from their insurance company, but it took about two years to get the permits and other approvals they needed to begin construction on the new, more fire-resistant home.

"The initial shock of losing material possessions is rough," Bill said. "But the roughest part, actually, for me anyway, was getting the permits and getting through the bureaucracy."

But the couple was determined to rebuild, so they pushed ahead and completed the home about four years after the fire.

While the rebuild made sense financially, the Bixleys said that with the benefit of hindsight, they might not have done it.

"It wasn't worth the pain," Leslie said. "Looking back on it, I wouldn't do it again, I don't think."

But years later, the new house still doesn't feel like home.

They miss Bill's 70-year-old teddy bear and Leslie's mother's Steinway grand piano, which they lost in the fire. Without many of its old trees, the property has lost some of its spirit. "We had to put so much concrete in to make it fire-safe that we feel like we're in a Lexus commercial," Leslie said. "It's just not the folksy place it was."

The Bixleys are also traumatized by their experience — and fearful of future fires, so they moved out of Malibu for the time being and leased their home to victims of the most recent LA fires. They're living in a rental home in Fresno as they decide what to do next.

"This last fire was so horrific, and we've just been so stressed out and traumatized from the experience, even though we've done everything in our power to fireproof our house," Leslie said. "We went through all that heartache, but it still didn't take away the pain and the fear of this happening."

Many of the Bixley's neighbors never rebuilt their homes, so their neighborhood still "looks like somebody who's lost half their teeth," Bill said. The couple said they know many others who also fear future fires and want to leave Malibu.

But if you're determined to rebuild, you can, Bill said.

"You can't get beaten down," he said. "You can always do it, just when you think it's over, it's not."

Has your home been impacted by a wildfire or other natural disaster? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• After working remotely for years, Elysa Ellis started working from the office five days a week.
• Ellis shared some of the steps she's taken to ease the transition.
• She asked for modified working hours, changed some routines, and started planning more.

After 14 years of working remotely, Elysa Ellis is returning to the office.

"It was the right time, right place," Ellis, a marketing professional, told Business Insider.

Ellis, 43, started a new role in January that requires her to work from the office five days a week. While she lives about a mile away from her employer, she was hesitant to give up the flexibility remote work provided, especially as a mother of two elementary school-age children.

As many employers, including behemoths like Amazon and JPMorgan Chase, call staff back to the office five days a week, workers have been reshaping their lives and routines to adjust. Despite these changes, working from the office can have professional and social benefits, and some people have found ways to ease the transition from remote to in-person work.

Ask for an alternative schedule

Since 2010, Ellis has worked primarily from her home in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and alternated between salaried and contract work.

Last November, on the same day one of her long-term contracts ended, she saw a job posting for a marketing director role at House of Shine, a local nonprofit organization. Ellis thought the role seemed like a good fit, and that even though it wouldn't be a step up in pay, it would be more stable than the contract-based consulting work she'd been relying on.

During the first interview for the role, Ellis made a request: Work hours from 9-to-3, rather than 9-to-5. Ellis said it's important for her to be able to pick up her two children from school around 3 p.m. and spend time with them until her husband Rory, who works remotely, finishes work around 5 p.m.

"It was a unique ask, but my children are young, so I knew that me stepping into an in-office role would impact them a lot," she said, adding, "I felt like I had nothing to lose."

By the time Ellis was offered the job, her request had been granted. She could work from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. — aside from the occasional evening event — and still be paid her full salary.

"I was told, 'We're not going to track your hours. We just need you to get your work done,'" Ellis said.

Adjusting lunch routines

While her modified working hours and short commute to work have helped Ellis adapt to her new working arrangement, she's still adjusting to other aspects.

For one, Ellis has to find care for her kids on the weekdays they're off from school. She said this is more challenging when the days off are unexpected, like when one of her kids gets sick. But she said either her husband or mother, who lives in the area, is typically able to step up.

"Having two backup adults is a privilege that not many have," she said.

When Ellis worked remotely as a consultant, she said she often scheduled work-related lunches and grabbed food at the coffee shops or cafés she worked from. She said she has less reason to eat out now, so she's started preparing food she can bring to the office.

"We are making food in larger quantities to have lunches for the next day," she said, adding that she's also ordered some ready-made lunches from the meal delivery service Hungryroot.

Building in time to get ready

Ellis also had to get used to a new morning routine. When she worked remotely and didn't have meetings, Ellis said she often wore yoga pants. Now, she spends time every morning getting dressed in business casual attire along with doing her hair and makeup.

"I'm big on planning as much ahead as possible to make daily decisions easier," she said, adding that she plans her outfits for the coming week on the weekend.

While she does her hair and makeup, Ellis listens to one of her favorite podcasts.

"I opt for something inspirational to set the tone for my day," she said.

Overall, Ellis said she's surprised by how much she's enjoyed working from the office. She said she thinks in-person meetings are more productive than video calls and that face-to-face communication with colleagues has been valuable.

"I really enjoy that aspect of the community of people because you're seeing them every day," she said.

Have you transitioned from remote to in-person work or vice versa? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].

• Tesla's future looked promising after Trump's win, but the automaker has had a rough start to 2025.
• The EV giant has recently faced protests, vandalism, declining sales, and a plummeting share price.
• Tesla has some potential bright spots ahead, like launching its robotaxi and starting production of its "more affordable" EV.

Tesla's new year kicked off with an ugly surprise when a man detonated a Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.

If the incident seems far in the rearview mirror at this point, it may be because the company has found itself fighting battles on multiple fronts in 2025.

Three months into the year, things have gotten so rough for the automaker that President Donald Trump publicly came to the defense of CEO Elon Musk, railing against growing calls to boycott Tesla and committing to buy a brand-new car from him in a photo op in front of the White House.

It's a stark change from November.

After actively campaigning for the president for months, Tesla's future initially looked promising under Trump 2.0. Musk was appointed to lead the White House's DOGE efforts, Tesla's stock price soared, and the billionaire said he would use his influence to push for a federal approval process for autonomous driving.

While Musk has lauded DOGE's efforts to slash federal spending, Tesla investors have had far less to celebrate. Since the start of 2025, Tesla has been mired in political backlash from the left over Musk's DOGE efforts and faces declines across several key metrics — not to mention the threat of looming tariffs.

A series of anti-Musk protests and Tesla boycott efforts have erupted across the country. Vandalism incidents have also taken place, including gunshots fired at a Tesla showroom and its vehicles and arrests made over damage from Molotov cocktails. Investigators believe a Tesla supercharger station that was engulfed in flames was an act of arson.

The anti-Tesla movement has led some Cybertruck owners, who now happen to own the automaker's most controversial and conspicuous vehicle, to feel uncomfortable leaving their vehicles unattended. The rising number of incidents has even led some to sell their Teslas out of embarrassment or fear of future incidents.

Others have asked Musk to add extra safety features to the vehicle amid the tensions, such as an AI-powered Sentry Mode or a version of the feature that notifies drivers when it's activated.

Musk downplayed the protests while speaking at CPAC recently, saying the demonstrations had "hardly any people" and didn't have "popular support."

However, as vandalism incidents against Teslas have continued, Musk said on X in response to a video of someone placing stickers on the vehicles that "damaging the property of others, aka vandalism, is not free speech."

Trump, meanwhile, has indicated that he'll label attacks against Tesla dealerships domestic terrorism.

It's not just talk — Tesla's numbers are dropping

Tesla's stock has been clobbered in the process.

The automaker's shares have steadily declined over the last couple of months, plunging 48% since hitting an all-time high in December amid a wider market rally.

At market close on Friday, it was down nearly 40% from the start of the new year.

Some Wall Street analysts are sounding the alarm.

"We struggle to think of anything analogous in the history of the automotive industry, in which a brand has lost so much value so quickly," JPMorgan analysts wrote in a note earlier this week.

Ross Gerber, a longtime Tesla investor who accurately predicted the stock would crash this year, said he didn't foresee the stock rebounding in 2025.

There are also indications that car buyers are pulling away from the brand.

Tesla sales are also down in a number of markets. Tesla sales last month fell 71% year over year in Australia and 76% in Germany, according to the countries' transportation agencies. Norway, Denmark, and Sweden also individually saw Tesla sales in February decline over 40% year over year, according to their respective registration data. In France, Tesla sales last month declined 26% year over year, although they improved from the month prior.

In the US, where Musk's political actions have been praised by Trump and many conservatives while being lambasted by many on the left, January Tesla sales were down 11% year over year, according to S&P Global Mobility.

However, its Model Y continues to be a top seller, and Tesla has so far maintained its leading market share with an estimated 42% of total EV sales in the US.

Then, there's China, where Tesla faces fierce competition from lower-cost EVs produced locally. The number of Teslas manufactured in the country last month decreased 49% year over year, according to the country's transportation authority, and the decline came as its Chinese rival, BYD, saw a 90.4% increase in vehicle sales the same month.

It's bracing for the impact of tariffs, too

While Tesla manufactures many of its EVs in the US, it's far from immune from the effects of Trump's looming trade war.

Tesla warned in an unsigned letter this week to the Trump administration that it could face retaliatory tariffs on exports. It said that "exporters are inherently exposed to disproportionate impacts" when countries react to US trade actions.

It also added that "certain parts and components are difficult or impossible to source" domestically and asked the US to consider a phased approach in their trade actions.

"Trade actions should not (and need not) conflict with objectives to further increase and support domestic manufacturing," Tesla wrote.

Facing the prospect of the federal EV tax credit going away, tariffs threaten to eat into the company's margins as the net cost of purchasing a new Tesla could increase without the subsidy.

Tesla is betting on 2 big launches this year

While Tesla is undoubtedly going through a rough patch, Musk's EV maker is readying two products that have Wall Street excited.

It's also made some moves this year in an attempt to drive sales of its most popular vehicle, the Model Y. Faced with an aging car lineup, Tesla launched the refreshed Model Y, though the company has said ramping up shipments has led to lost production time.

As for the political backlash, some analysts have told BI they believe that demand boils down to the quality of the product. If Tesla delivers best-in-class vehicles, car buyers will bite regardless of who is running the company, some analysts say.

There's some data to suggest there's truth to this. While American's favorability for Tesla has fallen to a 9-year low, according to YouGov's surveys, US consumers polled also indicate that their openness to buying a Tesla hasn't meaningfully shifted overall.

And with two key self-imposed deadlines approaching, the company still has plenty of time to right the ship.

The first is Musk's big bet on autonomy, Tesla's robotaxi service, which he's said will launch in Austin in June. It's the first step toward the eventual launch of its fully autonomous Cybercab. The Tesla CEO has said solving autonomy is key to growing the company's value.

The second, however, may have more of an immediate impact on Tesla's bottom line. The EV maker has said it's on track to begin production of a "more affordable" vehicle in the first half of the year — a product Tesla's retail investors and institutional shareholders have long asked about — which could help Tesla be more competitive in China and attract cash-strapped US shoppers too.

Analysts have told BI that it's "crucial" and "a necessity" that Tesla starts production for its cheaper EV in the first half of the year as promised, which would be June at the latest.

Musk's increasingly split attention amid his foray into politics has some wondering if he may have finally overextended himself — after all, he recently acknowledged that he's running his other companies with "great difficulty."

However, Musk has proven capable of seemingly miraculous turnarounds before.

As Peter Thiel recently put it, "You should never bet against Elon Musk."

But with continued pressure on the stock and a spotty track record with hitting deadlines, investors are now watching to see if the Tesla CEO can navigate through the storm clouds and into blue skies — one more time.