Trump, Musk offer show of unity as Tesla CEO departs government

CNA

a day ago

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday (May 30) that billionaire Elon Musk will remain a close adviser, even after the Tesla CEO departs the administration following a chaotic four-month tenure that saw him disrupt dozens of foreign agencies in his effort to slash government spending.
During a joint press conference in the Oval Office, Trump lauded Musk and defended his cost-cutting campaign as the head of the Department of Governmental Efficiency. The group has eliminated thousands of jobs and canceled billions of dollars in spending, including the majority of US foreign aid, but has thus far fallen far short of Musk's lofty initial promises.
"Elon is really not leaving. He's going to be back and forth," Trump said from behind the Resolute Desk, as Musk stood to his right, wearing a black DOGE hat and a T-shirt that read "The Dogefather" in the style of the movie "The Godfather."
The press conference appeared aimed at showing unity after Musk prompted frustration among White House officials this week by criticizing Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill as too expensive. Some senior aides, including Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, saw Musk's remarks on the tax bill as an open break from the administration, with Miller particularly irked by the comments, a source familiar with the matter said.
Trump gave Musk a large golden key inside a wooden box bearing his signature, a gift he said he reserved only for "very special people." Musk, in turn, admired the gold finishings that Trump has installed around the Oval Office.
The White House and senior aides had insisted earlier in Trump's term that Musk, the world's richest man, was a key figure who wasn't going anywhere.
But more recently, they began pointing to the expiration of his 130-day mandate as a special government employee, which was set to end around May 30, as a natural endpoint.
Musk, meanwhile, has said he intends to devote most of his energy to his business empire, including Tesla and SpaceX, after some investors expressed concern that DOGE was occupying too much of his time.
He has also said he plans to ratchet back his political donations, after he spent nearly US$300 million backing Trump's presidential campaign and those of other Republicans in 2024.
But he told reporters on Friday that he would continue to be part of Trump's circle of advisers.
"I expect to remain a friend and an adviser, and certainly, if there's anything the president wants me to do, I'm at the president's service," he said.
CUTS FALL SHORT
Musk initially claimed DOGE would slash at least US$2 trillion in federal spending. Four months into its efforts, DOGE now estimates it has saved US$175 billion.
But the details it has posted on its website, where it gives the only public accounting of those changes, add up to less than half of that figure.
US Treasury summaries reviewed by Reuters show that the agencies targeted by DOGE have cut about US$19 billion in combined spending compared to the same period last year, far below Musk's original target and amounting to just about 0.5% of total federal expenditures.
Trump and DOGE have managed to cut nearly 12%, or 260,000, of the 2.3 million-strong federal civilian workforce largely through threats of firings, buyouts and early retirement offers, a Reuters review of agency departures found.
Musk's prominent status as the face of DOGE's cost-cutting efforts has prompted widespread protests at Tesla outlets in the US and Europe, driving down both its sales and its stock price.
Musk said on Friday that downsizing the government had proven more difficult than he expected, blaming what he called the "banal evil of bureaucracy." But he also expressed confidence that DOGE would eventually achieve much deeper savings.