The Wall Street Journal's editorial board on Friday night jabbed businesses that expressed optimism for President Donald Trump's return to the White House.

A day after the Journal reported that Trump warned auto executives not to raise prices ahead of the enactment of his steep 25% tariff, the paper's conservative editorial board ridiculed the president.

"One bad policy decision inevitably leads to another to compensate for the damage, and that’s already true of President Trump’s new 25% tariffs on auto imports," the Journal chided.

Noting that Trump reportedly warned auto execs not to raise prices in response to his tariffs, the board sarcastically praised the president for finally "recognize[ing] in private that his tariffs aren’t cost-free for business or consumers, which wasn’t previously clear."

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The Journal compared Trump to one-time foe Kamala Harris — who once proposed going after food companies that price gouge — saying he "apparently thinks he can browbeat CEOs to cover up for them." During the campaign, Trump attacked Harris, dubbing her 'Comrade Kamala' who wanted to "institute socialist price controls."

But in his third month, it seems Trump may be pushing similar policies.

"Well, now Mr. Trump seems to be imitating Comrade Kamala to prevent catastrophic price increases from his auto tariffs," the Journal wrote.

Lower-riced sedans that are largely imported from Mexico, South Korea and Japan stand to see the harshest impact, the board said, though those tariff costs could extend to popular pick-up trucks and SUVs made in the United States.

"If higher prices reduce demand, the companies may lay off workers. Will Mr. Trump threaten those that do?" the board questioned.

The Journal concluded that companies that saw dollar signs when Trump won re-election may want to rethink that confidence.

"Businesses were optimistic when Mr. Trump returned to the Oval Office because they thought he understood how markets work. They may have been mistaken," the Journal said.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk's losing streak continued on Wednesday.

Hours after Republicans in Wisconsin lost a state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin where Musk spent tens of millions of dollars of his own money, shares of his flagship electric car company fell upon news that it had badly missed Wall Street estimates for the number of vehicles it had delivered in the first quarter of 2025.

As reported by Market Watch, Tesla revealed that "it delivered more than 336,000 vehicles during the first quarter, down from 387,000 deliveries a year ago."

To put this number into context, Market Watch notes that it "was well below the average analyst estimate compiled by FactSet of 404,000 vehicles" and it "was also lower than the 'whisper' number, or what Wall Street was quietly expecting, with even the most bullish analyst projecting a number in the 360,000 range."

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Although Tesla blamed the disappointing deliveries on what Market Watch describes as "the changeover to refreshed Model Y production lines" that "led to several weeks of lost production," it's also a reality that the company has been the target of a concerted boycott campaign led by progressive groups to protest Musk's role as the head of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency.

Sales of Tesla in Europe have fallen off a cliff in recent months, as car buyers on that continent have revolted against Musk's support for far-right political parties such as Germany's Alternative für Deutschland.