After months of exerting extraordinary power over the US government and becoming a mascot for Donald Trump’s new administration, the first signs that Elon Musk may shift away from his prominent role in the White House began to appear this week.
Both Trump and JD Vance have stated in interviews over the past few days that Musk would eventually leave the administration and the “department of government efficiency” (Doge) that he founded, their most direct statements yet on his tenure. Politico also reported on Wednesday that Trump had told members of his inner circle that the Tesla CEO would be departing in the coming weeks, though Musk called the article “fake news”. Musk is a “special government employee”, a designation that technically carries a 130-day term that, depending on how the administration chooses to log those days, could run out at the end of May. Vance made sure to say that Musk would remain a close “friend and adviser” to the administration even after leaving, further muddying the waters on how to mark Musk’s potential departure.
The question of exactly when Musk may leave the White House, however, is less consequential than the circumstances of his exit. Rather than an explosive split that many commentators predicted, Trump has repeatedly defended Musk, and there has been little public indication from either man of anything acrimonious. Politico reported that Trump has been pleased with Musk’s performance even as the president forecasts the billionaire leaving. Musk instead appears set to keep his close ties with the president and retain the wealth, influence and intent to shape the country’s politics.
Trump’s support for Musk has persisted even as his popularity has declined and Republicans have – often quietly and anonymously – expressed concerns to media that Musk is becoming a political liability. A poll released this month showed that the majority of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Musk, and Democrats have been increasingly making him the face of the administration to capitalize on that. Musk’s public and costly failure to secure a conservative victory in Tuesday’s Wisconsin supreme court election, after he had funneled millions into the race and headlined a political rally in the state, showcased how divisive he can be with voters. Democrats focused their criticism on Musk and made the election a referendum on his politics. Trump, however, has continued to laud his efforts.
“Elon is fantastic,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday, saying that he wished Musk could stay as long as possible but would at some point return to focus on his companies.
Musk’s time in government has oscillated between triumphant glee after decimating agencies such as USAID, the world’s largest single provider of humanitarian aid, to attacking judges who have ruled Doge violated laws and expressing outrage at the public backlash against him. But despite its erratic nature, his time in the White House has also frequently been mutually beneficial for Musk and Trump, whose relationship is now hard to disentangle.
Since announcing his support for Trump last July, Musk has rapidly become a key pillar of Trump’s second term and the broader rightwing ecosystem. Creating a Super Pac and spending nearly $300m on the election made him a top megadonor, as well as set him up as a power broker for future Republican campaigns. Musk’s formation of Doge and rapid gutting of government agencies not only sent thousands of federal employees packing, but crucially now has allies occupying key positions at federal agencies. His businesses, such as SpaceX and Starlink, already intertwined with government services like satellite communications, have entrenched themselves further while laying the groundwork for lucrative contracts.
Trump, meanwhile, gained his wealthiest supporter and at different times a public cheerleader, political enforcer and a human shield that would absorb the brunt of criticism for the administration’s mass layoffs. Musk has also turned X, the social media platform he owns, into a space for far-right politicians and pro-Trump influencers, thanks in large part to his own posting to his 200 million-plus followers. Trump has returned the adulation, praising Musk as a “patriot’ and using the White House lawn as a stage from which to sell Teslas.
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Given Musk’s amorphous role and extensive ties with government agencies, it’s unclear what him leaving the administration would actually entail. He may no longer be a constant physical presence in government offices and at cabinet meetings, where Trump has defended him during fights with other top officials, but it’s unclear what other power and privileges Musk is willing to give up now that he has attained them. Although Musk has often given off the energy of a guest that doesn’t know when to leave, Republicans may come to find it’s hard to kick out the person paying for the party.
