Elon Musk isn’t stepping back from DOGE until next month, but President Donald Trump is already talking about him in the past tense.
Trump heaped praise on his billionaire buddy Wednesday as he spoke to reporters at the Oval Office about Musk’s looming departure from the cost-cutting task force.
“I can’t speak more highly about any individual,” he said. “He was a tremendous help, both in the campaign and in what he’s done with DOGE… He really helped the country. Saved us a lot of money.”
Musk revealed in an earnings call with Tesla investors that his time with DOGE will “drop significantly” to one to two days per week beginning in May. Because he is designated as a special government employee, Musk is limited to working up to 130 days per year.
“He was always, at this time, going to ease out,” Trump said. “What he does is good… We have to, at some point, let him go and do that. And we expected to be doing it about this time.”
Tesla reported Tuesday that its profits plunged by 71 percent in the first quarter of the year. It earned $409 million between January and March, down from $1.4 billion over the same period last year.
“There’s been some blowback for the time that I’ve been spending in government with DOGE,” Musk admitted in an earnings call as he blasted attacks on Tesla dealerships worldwide, which included the firebombing of a store in Colorado and another in Rome.
Musk claimed, without providing evidence, that those attacks were carried out by paid agents.
🚨 ELON MUSK: “There’s been some blowback for the time that I’ve been spending in government with DOGE. I think the work that we’re doing there is actually very important for trying to bring in the insane deficit that is being a country, United States to destruction. DOGE team… pic.twitter.com/m837NgU1w2
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) April 22, 2025
Trump doubled down on those comments on Wednesday, flaming “sick people” who vandalized Tesla dealerships as he marketed Musk’s companies.
“Everything he does is good, but they took it out on Tesla. And I just thought it was so unfair, because he’s trying to help the country,” he said. “He makes a great product. It’s a great car. It’s a great everything—Starlink is great.”
But it’s not just the public that has been unhappy with Musk’s drastic moves to shrink the size of government through DOGE.
The billionaire’s time in government has been marked by acrimony, especially among Trump’s cabinet.
Musk recently had an explosive screaming match with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent within Trump’s earshot, according to Axios. An aide reportedly had to physically intervene to break up the fight.
“It’s no secret President Trump has put together a team of people who are incredibly passionate about the issues impacting our country,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said. “Disagreements are a normal part of any healthy policy process, and ultimately, everyone knows they serve at the pleasure of President Trump.”
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