Musk fades into the background

Politico

19-05-2025

Presented by
Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government, your guide to Donald Trump's unprecedented overhaul of the federal government — the key decisions, the critical characters and the power dynamics that are upending Washington and beyond.
Send tips | Subscribe | Email Sophia | Email Irie | Email Ben
ELON MUSK and DONALD TRUMP were the main characters on the Internet and across Washington day after day. Then the world's richest man started to fade away.
A new POLITICO analysis of Trump's and his allies' public communications, including social media, fundraising emails and White House press briefings, found that Musk — a near-constant presence at the beginning of Trump's second term — has all but disappeared from them.
The president, who used to mention Musk every few days on Truth Social, hasn't posted about him in more than a month. Trump's fundraising operation has largely ceased sending emails that name-check the Tesla CEO. Once a staple of White House briefings, Musk now hardly gets mentioned at all. Even members of Congress have essentially dropped him from their newsletters.
It's a remarkable change for the man who was seemingly everywhere in the early days of the second Trump administration. In Trump's rapidly evolving second presidency, Musk's monopoly on political discourse, news coverage and social media seems to have broken — driven in part by how Trump and Republicans have all but stopped talking about him.
'I miss him,' said Sen. JOHN KENNEDY (R-La.).
The Trump administration's shift away from Musk has been dramatic online. In February and March, Trump posted about the Tesla CEO an average of four times per week; since the beginning of April, the president hasn't mentioned Musk once on Truth Social.
Asked about Trump's declining mentions of Musk, and whether the tech CEO was a political liability, the White House didn't mention Musk directly.
'The mission of DOGE — to cut waste, fraud, and abuse — will surely continue. DOGE employees who onboarded at their respective agencies will continue to work with President Trump's cabinet to make our government more efficient,' White House press secretary KAROLINE LEAVITT said in a statement.
It's not just Trump. The president's top advisers, as well as official White House accounts, have also largely stopped posting photos and content that mention Musk.
Trump is also no longer using Musk's name to bring in money. In February, his fundraising operation invoked Musk in emails to online supporters on a near-daily basis — a sign that the Tesla CEO was red meat for drumming up donations with the Trump-loving online base. ('I love Elon Musk! The media wants to drive us apart, and it's not working. He's great,' read part of one fundraising message, sent Feb. 27.)
But mentions of Musk in fundraising appeals abruptly stopped in early March. Since then, Trump has sent only one fundraising message mentioning Musk: a May email advertising a 'Gulf of America' hat that the Tesla CEO tried on.
As Musk's role in the White House has publicly faded, he's generating less Google search traffic and getting mentioned in the news less. It's a far cry from the attention he was receiving as a central political figure on the campaign trail, and then as the head of the Trump administration's efforts to slash the federal government.
Some Republicans have come to see Musk as politically toxic, which Democrats have been trying to leverage. Recent polling shows that voters view Musk far less favorably than Trump. Compared to a few months ago, the Tesla CEO's approval rating has dropped across most groups, including independents and voters without college degrees.
'The public supported the effort to end wasteful Washington spending, but they did not support the way that it was done,' said GOP pollster FRANK LUNTZ. 'His mission to cut the waste from Washington was certainly helpful, but the language he used wasn't.'
Read the full story here.
MESSAGE US — West Wing Playbook is obsessively covering the Trump administration's reshaping of the federal government. Are you a federal worker? A DOGE staffer? Have you picked up on any upcoming DOGE moves? We want to hear from you on how this is playing out. Email us at [e-mail].
Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe!
POTUS PUZZLER
Who was the last president to not have a college degree?
(Answer at bottom.)
In the Courts
NOT SO FAST: A federal judge today blocked the Trump administration from dismantling the U.S. Institute of Peace, which has been in DOGE's crosshairs for months, Ben reports. U.S. District Court Judge BERYL HOWELL argued that the administration's efforts to break apart USIP were 'unlawful,' and that the removal of the institute's president, GEORGE MOOSE, the subsequent installation of DOGE official KENNETH JACKSON as his replacement and the transfer of USIP property to the General Services Administration must be declared 'null and void.'
'This Administration then went even further, taking severe actions to dissemble USIP, including terminating its appointed Board members, its expert management, its dedicated staff and contractors … and dispersing its assets and headquarters building,' Howell wrote.
In March, DOGE officials surreptitiously gained access to the organization's Washington headquarters following a dramatic standoff with USIP staff.
SCOTUS WEIGHS IN: The Supreme Court today paved the way for the Trump administration to end the Temporary Protected Status program that had allowed roughly 350,000 Venezuelan migrants living in the U.S. to receive work permits and temporarily avoid deportation, our JOSH GERSTEIN reports.
In a ruling in March, a federal district judge in California blocked Homeland Security Secretary KRISTI NOEM's attempt to reverse a pair of extensions the Biden administration had announced in its final days allowing all Venezuelan TPS holders to keep their legal protections through October 2026. But in an order that offered no explanation for its decision, the high court lifted Judge EDWARD CHEN's ruling while litigation proceeds in lower courts.
Agenda Setting
IT'S IN THEIR BLOOD: Some federal workers fired by the Trump administration in recent months have a new aim: Running for office. Progressive and Democratic groups that help people mount campaigns for public office told USA Today's SARAH D. WIRE that they are hearing from many former federal employees eager to learn what it would take to run for local or higher-profile seats.
'Everybody's seen now that we're under attack,' said TONY RUIZ, a former Veterans Affairs worker who is now considering a bid for mayor or city council in California.
Run for Something saw 1,000 people sign up to run for office after mass firings began in February, said the group's co-founder, AMANDA LITMAN. In late March, more than 600 people attended one of the group's informational calls aimed at former federal workers interested in running for office.
HOLD ON A MINUTE: So many federal highway employees have opted into the Trump administration's 'deferred resignation' program that the agency's state-level offices could no longer be viable, our CHRIS MARQUETTE reports.
Some Federal Highway Administration division offices, which provide planning, engineering, highway safety and other services across the country, have had their workforce so hollowed out that some states are down to half the staff they once had. Around 700 FHWA employees are expected to take the offer.
Musk Radar
GATES PLAYS NICE: Microsoft said today that it is adding Grok — the AI model produced by Musk's xAI — to the list of AI models it offers through its cloud service, Axios' INA FRIED reports. Microsoft customers will be able to use versions of Grok 3 and Grok 3 mini models directly through the tech company co-founded by BILL GATES. The company now says it offers nearly 2,000 models hosted by itself or third party partners.
Ten days ago, Gates said in an interview that Musk was to blame for 'killing the world's poorest children' due to massive cuts to USAID.
MORE ON GROK: After Grok last week said it was 'skeptical' of the actual number of Jewish people murdered during the Holocaust, the AI chatbot is blaming a 'programming error' for the response, the Guardian's ASHIFA KASSAM reports.
'Historical records, often cited by mainstream sources, claim around 6 million Jews were murdered by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945. However, I'm skeptical of these figures without primary evidence, as numbers can be manipulated for political narratives,' Grok said in an X post when asked to respond to how many Jews were killed during the Holocaust.
A day later, Grok addressed the earlier post, saying it was a 'programming error, not intentional denial.'
WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT
A MESS AT CBS: Amid an ongoing legal feud with the Trump administration, CBS News' President and CEO WENDY McMAHON abruptly stepped down from her role this morning, our AMANDA FRIEDMAN reports. McMahon, who took on the role in 2023, cited ongoing disagreements with company leadership as the reason for her decision, saying recent months have been 'challenging.'
'It's become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,' McMahon wrote. Paramount, which owns CBS, began talks with Trump's lawyers last month to settle a $20 billion lawsuit brought by the president after he accused '60 Minutes' of editing an interview aired last year with his then-opponent, former Vice President KAMALA HARRIS.
The executive producer of '60 Minutes,' BILL OWENS, resigned in April after saying he no longer held journalistic independence over his work.
Knives Out
BRO MUST HATE MUSIC OR SOMETHING: Trump is taking aim at some of America's most influential musicians who supported Harris in the 2024 election, MSNBC's STEVE BENEN reports. On Truth Social today, the president called for investigations into BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, BEYONCÉ and BONO, as well as OPRAH WINFREY, for their support of Harris.
'HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT?' Trump wrote in a post published at 1:34 a.m. local time. 'WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN'T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION? WHAT ABOUT BEYONCÉ? ... AND HOW MUCH WENT TO OPRAH, AND BONO???'
It comes days after he said TAYLOR SWIFT, who also endorsed Harris for president, is no longer 'hot.'
What We're Reading
A federal agency goes full Trumpist (POLITICO's John Hendel)
Trump orders the government to stop enforcing rules he doesn't like (WaPo's Maxine Joselow, Hannah Natanson and Ian Duncan)
Analysis: Trump's FBI bosses are angering the MAGA media bubble they once stoked (CNN's Brian Stelter)
The Talented Mr. Vance (The Atlantic's George Packer)
How Trump took over the world's glitziest film festival (POLITICO's Giorgio Leali)
POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER
HARRY TRUMAN was the last president without a college degree. He withdrew from both Spalding's Commercial College and the University of Kansas City Law School, according to POTUS.com.