Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk announced his departure from his role as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump, ending his brief but high-profile tenure as a Special Government Employee tasked with reducing federal bureaucracy.
Musk’s exit comes amid growing Republican divisions over Trump’s controversial spending bill and mounting criticism of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), which Musk led.Musk a day before his announcement also criticised Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill.”
Here are 10 key points:
- Musk announces exit on X: “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending.” Meanwhile, a White House official, speaking anonymously, confirmed Musk’s departure from the advisory role.
- Break with Trump over spending bill: Musk’s exit follows his public criticism of Trump’s flagship legislative proposal, the “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” which includes sweeping tax relief and government spending cuts.
- ‘It can be big or beautiful, but not both’: In an interview with CBS, Musk said, “I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful. But I don’t know if it could be both,” calling it a “massive spending bill” that increases the budget deficit.
- Senator Ron Johnson backs Musk’s criticism: “I sympathise with Elon being discouraged,” said Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), adding there’s likely enough Republican opposition to stall the bill unless fiscal concerns are taken seriously.
- Trump defends bill amid backlash: Responding to critics, Trump said, “I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it… It’s got a way to go,” defending the measure as a product of compromise.
- Doge under fire: Musk, in a separate interview with The Washington Post, said Doge had become a “whipping boy” for the administration’s failures. “Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.”
- Trump hints at Musk’s return to business:President Trump, speaking in March and quoted by Politico, had already hinted that Elon Musk’s tenure in government might be short-lived. “I think he is amazing but I also think he is got a big company to run and so at some point he is going to be going back. He wants to. I would keep him as long as I could keep him,” Trump said. He added that the influence of Doge would continue even after Musk’s departure: “There will be a point at which the secretaries will be able to do this work.”
- Internal resistance and missed goals: Musk blamed entrenched federal bureaucracy for Doge’s limited success, stating, “The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized.” Despite removing tens of thousands from government payrolls, Musk admitted Doge fell short of its goals
- Personal toll and backlash: Musk’s companies were impacted by his political role.
Tesla faced protests and even arson attacks. “People were burning Teslas. Why would you do that? That’s really uncool,” he said. - Return to private ventures and political retreat: Musk is now refocusing on
SpaceX and Tesla after a turbulent political stint. Following the explosion of a Starship prototype over the Indian Ocean, he said he would step back from politics after spending roughly $250 million backing Trump.
