For the first 100 days of Donald Trump‘s presidency, billionaire and close ally Elon Musk has been central to the president’s strategy and the public presentation of his administration.
As head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has led the charge on cuts to federal spending, and as the owner of X, formerly Twitter, has made himself a top advocate for the administration’s policies through his prolific social media activity.
However, Musk’s first 100 days have been a double-edged sword. His close alignment with Trump has damaged his tech company brands, and despite being one of the most proactive members of the president’s team, his job approval rating has been ranked as even lower than Trump’s.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
One of the first significant changes DOGE, a task force created by Trump via executive order, made to federal spending was the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Trump and Musk argued that USAID’s work didn’t align with the administration’s policy goals.
The department previously spent $40 billion annually for programs that combat HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, provide disaster relief, improve access to clean water, and support economic development in struggling nations.
In March, DOGE reduced the number of USAID contracts by 83 percent, adding that had saved $6.5 billion annually by reducing the program to a subsection of the State Department.
Federal Layoffs
Another early move in the administration from DOGE was an attempt to cut the manpower of the federal government, in a move right out of Musk’s playbook from managing his other companies.
Over 200,000 federal workers have been laid off since Trump took office in January, and about 75,000 federal employees have accepted buyout plans known as “deferred resignations,” according to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
It’s the same technique that Musk has used when he took over Twitter where he reduced the total staff by 80 percent of its original capacity.
The DOGE website currently says that it has saved $160 billion across the entire federal government under Musk’s leadership.
Credit Card Freezes
Since January, DOGE has kept a running total of how many federal credit cards it has frozen.
In April, the task force said that it had suspended nearly half a million cards that it deemed unnecessary, with Musk describing the system as “crazy.” DOGE said it had removed 470,000 cards across 30 government departments.
Musk wrote on X during the announcement of the freeze: “Twice as many credit cards are issued and active than the total number of government employees!”
According to DOGE, there are 4.6 million government credit cards, which totaled $40 billion in spending last year.
DOGE has said it will continue to make cuts to the government credit card system by expanding the number of agencies included in the audit for the next round.
SpaceX and the International Space Station (ISS)
While DOGE has been the defining part of Musk’s time in government, his role as CEO of SpaceX, which is critical to U.S. space activity, has also seen increased relevance during Trump’s second term.
The return of astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who were left on the International Space Station (ISS) for several months after their 2024 return vessel was found to be faulty, was carried out on a SpaceX flight.
Trump said that he had tasked Musk with returning the astronauts to Earth, with the return flight being coordinated between Musk’s company and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in March.
Tesla and Public Opinion
Musk’s activity made him a major target of protests against the Trump administration, with Tesla, which Musk is the CEO of, becoming a beacon for activists to voice their discontent.
The vehicle manufacturer, previously considered the gold-standard for electric cars, lost more than 70 percent of its profit in the first quarter of 2025, with sales also seeing a 13 percent drop.
Musk and his companies have been the explicit targets of many groups, ranging from grassroots organizers like Tesla Takedown to high-ranking members of the Canadian government who were frustrated by Musk’s support for Trump’s bullish approach to Canada after the president said he wanted it to become the 51st state.
Amid the resistance, Tesla cars and dealerships have been targeted and torched across the country. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement last month that the attacks are “nothing short of domestic terrorism.”
As of April, Musk’s job approval is just 41 percent, with the same poll from Marquette Law School giving the president an approval of 46 percent.
Eric Schiffer, the chair of the private equity firm Patriarch Organization, said that Tesla and Musk’s reputation would only be able to recover if the billionaire stepped away from the public side of Trump’s administration.
“If he backs away, which I believe will happen soon, then memories fade,” Schiffer told Newsweek. “The ties to DOGE, in time, and the negative sentiment around it will dissipate. Innovation and new products can recapture people’s imagination, and recalibrate their view of his brand and that of Tesla.”
What’s Next for Elon Musk?
Despite his prominence for the first stage of Trump’s second term, the White House and Musk himself have both indicated that Musk will step away from his role at DOGE.
Musk said in a recent meeting with Tesla investors that he would be spending more time with the company, saying in April: “I think starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly.”
Vice President JD Vance echoed the sentiment that DOGE would continue in some form without Musk at some point in the future, telling reporters: “DOGE has got a lot of work to do, and that work is going to continue after Elon leaves. But fundamentally, Elon is going to remain a friend and an adviser of both me and the president.”
Schiffer said this move could kill two birds with one stone since it would help Musk recover his public image while also removing what was becoming a consistent criticism of the Trump administration, his friendliness with Big Tech billionaires.
“The public backlash is a question of ‘how much of this is real?’” Schiffer said. “No one really knows how deep it is with the Trump administration up to this point, and they’re directing that anger at a vulnerability of Trump, which is Elon, and his wealth.”
He added: “If you focus on that, the hope is that Trump, and pressure from investors, and the emotional stress on him may cause Musk to back away as a member of the administration. It’s a calculation that may provide short term benefits. I think we will see Musk alter his news cycle ties to DOGE, perhaps to working more behind the scenes. Being less visible will help his brand a lot.”
However, Schiffer also said that Musk could potentially return to politics, highlighting comparisons between Musk’s position now, and Trump’s position during the Biden administration, when he was considered politically toxic.
“Trump’s reputation was not good, and many felt that he had destroyed any chance of recovering his political brand, and three years later he became president,” he said. “We’re dealing with human beings who can be persuaded by stories, and the power of Elon Musk is his ability to innovate on those ideas and capture peoples’ imagination.”
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