Plan raises possibility of more conflicts of interest for Elon Musk as he leads efforts to slash government spending

The US Department of State is planning to spend $400m buying new Tesla armoured vehicles, even as the carmaker’s boss, Elon Musk, leads efforts to slash government spending under Donald Trump.

A procurement forecast produced by the department showed the $400m (£320m) proposed spending on “armoured Tesla (production units)”. They are likely to be Cybertrucks, the company’s electric pickup, given Musk’s claims that the vehicle is bulletproof.