 "Elon Musk speaks next to US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on., February 11. He heads the Doge, which is tasked with cutting costs of the US government. Reuters File")
White House on Wednesday refuted reports suggesting that President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping back from the Trump administration .
Calling the report from Politico a “‘scoop’ [that] is garbage,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, said, “Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete.”
Citing three Trump insiders, Politico on Wednesday reported that while President Trump continues to appreciate Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency initiative, both have agreed recently that it is time for Musk to return to his business ventures and assume a more supportive role.
Musk is likely to keep an informal advisory role and occasionally appear at the White House, added the report, citing a senior official, while another official warned that anyone expecting him to vanish completely from Trump’s circle is “fooling themselves.”
On Tuesday, Musk and Trump suffered a setback as a liberal judge in Wisconsin won election to the state Supreme Court, easily defeating a conservative judge whose campaign had been heavily bankrolled by Musk and groups tied to him.
The vote had been seen as an early referendum on Trump’s presidency and Musk’s campaign to remake the U.S. civil service.
Shares of some government contracting companies rose following the reports of Musk’s possible impending return to the private sector. Shares of Musk’s Tesla, which had been down more than 6% in early trading after a sharper-than-expected fall in first-quarter deliveries, reversed course and were up about 5% on Wednesday afternoon.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsMusk told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” last week that he was confident he would finish most of his stated aim of cutting $1 trillion in federal spending by the end of his 130 days.
But in a March 10 interview with Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow,” when he was asked by host Larry Kudlow, “You going to go another year?” Musk replied, “Yeah, I think so.”
There has been growing unease across the U.S. over Musk’s blunt approach to mass layoffs from the government workforce. Nearly 200,000 employees have been fired, earmarked for termination or have accepted buyouts.
Republican lawmakers have faced the wrath of angry voters at unruly town halls, while many of DOGE’s efforts have become the subject of lawsuits.
With inputs from agencies