Trump Likes EVs Now. That's Less Terrible for Tesla.

Electric vehicles, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and the invisible hand of the market all came up at former President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Michigan on Saturday.

Trump is softening his stance on EVs. That isn't going to help everyone equally.

"I love Elon Musk," said Trump. "I'm constantly talking about electric cars...I'm totally for them...but whatever the market says...if it's 10% of the market 12%, 7%, 20%, whatever it's OK."

Trump also referenced Musk's endorsement of his candidacy and the $45 million a month Musk said he would donate to a new political-action committee that backs Trump's campaign, as The Wall Street Journal reported.

It's a relatively new message from the former President, who has been very critical of EVs in the past. The shift appears to be policy-related. Trump's new thinking appears to be that EVs are fine, but let car buyers choose whatever works best for them without government interference in the form of emissions regulations or subsidies.

Rollbacks of EV purchase tax credits, federal funding for EV charging stations, and emissions standards would essentially slow the growth of EVs in the U.S.

That isn't terrible for Tesla. It is the only U.S. EV maker with profit and scale. Tesla sold about 164,000 EVs in the U.S. in the second quarter. Ford Motor was second with about 23,000. (Tesla sells far more EVs overseas than any U.S. auto maker.)

Second quarter earnings are coming this week. In the first quarter, Ford reported a $1.3 billion loss in its EV business. Tesla earned $1.2 billion.

"We believe a Trump presidency would be an overall negative for the EV industry as likely the EV rebates/tax incentives get pulled, however for Tesla we see this as a potential positive," wrote Dan Ives in a recent report. "Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched in the EV industry.

The market reflects some of Ives' thinking. Tesla shares dipped 3.6% this past week, as the odds of a second Trump term rose. Shares of unprofitable EV start-ups Rivian Automotive $Rivian Automotive (RIVN.US)$ and Lucid $Lucid Group (LCID.US)$ fell 7.5% and 17.6%, respectively.

General Motors stock dropped 1.4%. Shares of Ford and Stellantis fell less than 1%. A slower EV rollout keeps their traditional businesses more profitable for longer.

Investors will likely take a pause on politics this coming week. Ford $Forward Industries (FORD.US)$ , GM $General Motors (GM.US)$ , and Tesla all report second-quarter numbers.

Tesla is slated to report on Tuesday evening. Wall Street is looking for earnings per share of 61 cents. Beating that number should be, well, expected. Tesla reported better-than-expected second-quarter deliveries on July 2 and coming into Monday trading shares were up more than 20% for the month.