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Time of India
30 minutes ago
- Business
- Time of India
Elon Musk came to Washington wielding a chain saw. He leaves behind upheaval and unmet expectations
Elon Musk came to Washington wielding a chain saw. He leaves behind upheaval and unmet expectations (Image: AP) WASHINGTON, Elon Musk arrived in the nation's capital with the chain saw-wielding swagger of a tech titan who had never met a problem he couldn't solve with lots of money, long hours or a well-calibrated algorithm. President Donald Trump was delighted to have the world's richest person -- and a top campaign donor -- working in his administration, talking about how he was "a smart guy" who "really cares for our country." Musk was suddenly everywhere -- holding forth in Cabinet meetings while wearing a "tech support" shirt and black MAGA hat, hoisting his young son on his shoulders in the Oval Office, flying aboard Air Force One, sleeping in the White House. Democrats described the billionaire entrepreneur as Trump's "co-president," and senior officials bristled at his imperial approach to overhauling the federal government. After establishing Tesla as a premier electric automaker, building rockets at SpaceX and reshaping the social media landscape by buying Twitter, Musk was confident that he could bend Washington to his vision. Now that's over. Musk said this week that he's leaving his job as a senior adviser, an announcement that came after he revealed his plan to curtail political donations and he criticised the centrepiece of Trump's legislative agenda. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Secure Your Child's Future with Strong English Fluency Planet Spark Learn More Undo It's a quiet exit after a turbulent entrance, and he's trailed by upheaval and unmet expectations. Thousands of people were indiscriminately laid off or pushed out -- hundreds of whom had to be rehired -- and some federal agencies were eviscerated. But no one has been prosecuted for the fraud that Musk and Trump said was widespread within the government. Musk reduced his target for cutting spending from USD two trillion to USD one trillion to USD 150 billion, and even that goal may not be reached. In Silicon Valley, where Musk got his start as a founder of PayPal, his kind of promises are known as vapourware -- a product that sounds extraordinary yet never gets shipped to market. Trump said Thursday on his Truth Social platform that he would hold a press conference Friday with Musk. "This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way," Trump added. "Elon is terrific!" Musk's position was always designed to be temporary, and he had previously announced his intention to dedicate more of his time to his companies. But he also told reporters last month that he was willing to work part-time for Trump "indefinitely, as long as the president wants me to do it." Musk got a seat at Trump's table and put USD 250 million behind his campaign It was clear that Musk wouldn't be the typical kind of presidential adviser around the time that he showed the world his belly button. Racing on stage at a campaign rally one month before the election, he jumped for joy next to Trump, his T-shirt rising to expose his midriff. Musk had already sold Trump on his idea for a Department of Government Efficiency while also putting at least USD 250 million behind his candidacy. The plan called for a task force to hunt for waste, fraud and abuse, a timeworn idea with a new twist. Instead of putting together a blue-ribbon panel of government experts, Trump would give his top donor a desk in the White House and what appeared to be carte blanche to make changes. Musk deployed software engineers who burrowed into sensitive databases, troubling career officials who sometimes chose to resign rather than go along. Trump brushed off concerns about Musk's lack of experience in public service or conflicts of interest from his billions of dollars in federal contracts. Their unlikely partnership had the potential for a generational impact on American politics and government. While Musk dictated orders for government departments from his perch in the White House, he was poised to use his wealth to enforce loyalty to the president. His language was that of catastrophism. Excessive spending was a crisis that could only be solved by drastic measures, Musk claimed, and "if we don't do this, America will go bankrupt." But even though he talked about his work in existential terms, he treated the White House like a playground. He brought his children to a meeting with the Indian prime minister. He let the president turn the driveway into a makeshift Tesla showroom to help boost sales. He installed an oversized screen in his office that he occasionally used to play video games. Sometimes, Trump invited Musk to sleep over in the Lincoln Bedroom. "We'll be on Air Force One, Marine One, and he'll be like, do you want to stay over?'" Musk told reporters. The president made sure he got some caramel ice cream from the kitchen. "This stuff's amazing," Musk said. "I ate a whole tub of it." Looking back on his experience in government, he described it as a lark. "It is funny that we've got DOGE," an acronym that references an online meme featuring a surprised-looking dog from Japan. "How did we get here?" Musk did not give federal workers the benefit of the doubt From the beginning, Musk treated federal workers with contempt. At best, they were inefficient; at worst, they were committing fraud. His team offered them a "fork in the road," meaning they could get paid to quit. Probationary employees, generally people new on the job without full civil service protection, were shown the door. Anyone who stayed faced escalating demands, such as what became known as the "five things" emails. Musk wanted every government employee to submit a list of five things they accomplished in the previous week, and he claimed that "failure to respond will be taken as a resignation." Some administration officials curtailed the plan, concerned that it could jeopardise security in more sensitive areas of the government, and it eventually faded, an early sign of Musk's struggle to get traction. But in the meantime, he continued issuing orders like thunderbolts. One day in February, Musk posted "CFPB RIP," plus an emoji of a tombstone. The headquarters of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created after the Great Recession to protect Americans from fraud and deceptive practices, was shut down and employees were ordered to stop working. Musk had already started gutting the US Agency for International Development, a pillar of the country's foreign policy establishment and the world's largest provider of humanitarian assistance. "Spent the weekend feeding USAID into a wood chipper," he bragged. Thousands of contacts were cut off, pleasing conservatives who disliked the agency's progressive initiatives on climate change and gay rights. Musk rejected concerns about the loss of a crucial lifeline for impoverished people around the globe, saying, "no one has died." However, children who once relied on American assistance perished from malnutrition, and the death toll is expected to increase. The lawsuits began piling up. Sometimes workers got their jobs back, only to lose them again. The Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for ensuring the safety of everything from baby formula to biotech drugs, planned to lay off 3,500 employees. But again and again, the agency was forced to rehire people who were initially deemed expendable, including laboratory scientists, travel bookers and document specialists. Commissioner Marty Makary, who started his job after many of the cuts took place, told attendees at a recent conference that "it was hard and my job is to make sure we can heal from that." Only 1,900 layoffs took place, but another 1,200 staffers took buyouts or early retirement. Experts fear the agency has lost much of its institutional knowledge and expertise in areas like vaccines, tobacco and food. There are also concerns about safety on public lands. The National Park Service has been bleeding staff, leaving fewer people to maintain trails, clean restrooms and guide visitors. More cuts at the Forest Service could undermine efforts to prevent and fight wildfires. The Environmental Protection Agency faces a broad overhaul, such as gutting the Office of Research and Development, which was responsible for improving air pollution monitoring and discovering harmful chemicals in drinking water. Not even low-profile organisations were exempt. Trump ordered the downsizing of the US Institute of Peace, a non profit think tank created by Congress, and Musk's team showed up to carry out his plan. The organisations' leaders were deposed, then reinstated after a court battle. Musk made little headway at the top sources of federal spending The bulk of federal spending goes to health care programs like Medicaid and Medicare, plus Social Security and the military. Unfortunately for Musk, all of those areas are politically sensitive and generally require congressional approval to make changes. Thousands of civilian workers were pushed out at the Pentagon, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is reducing the ranks of top generals and looking to consolidate various commands. A plan to downsize an office for testing and evaluating new weapons systems could save USD 300 million per year. Hegseth recently asked employees to submit one idea per week for cutting waste. However, the Pentagon budget would increase by USD 150 billion, for a total of more than USD 900 billion, under Trump's spending proposal working its way through Congress. The money includes USD 25 billion to lay the groundwork for Trump's "golden dome" missile defence program and USD 34 billion to expand the naval fleet with more shipbuilding. Another USD 45 million is expected to be spent on a military parade on June 14, which is the 250th anniversary of the Army's founding and Trump's 79th birthday. Musk also faced blowback for targeting Social Security, which provides monthly benefits to retirees and some children. He suggested that the popular program was "a Ponzi scheme" and the government could save between USD 500 billion and USD 700 billion by tackling waste and fraud. However, his estimates were inflated. Social Security's inspector general said there was only USD 71.8 billion in improper payments over eight years. Nor was there any evidence that millions of dead people were receiving benefits. Changes to Social Security phone services, pitched as a way to eliminate opportunities for fraud, were walked back after an outcry from lawmakers and beneficiaries. But the agency could still shed 7,000 workers while closing some of its offices. Musk's popularity cratered even though Americans often agreed with his premise that the federal government is bloated and wasteful, according to polling from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research. Just 33 per cent of US adults had a favourable view of Musk in April, down from 41 per cent in December. In addition, 65 per cent said Musk had too much influence over the federal government. Musk talked of staggering savings but delivered modest results During a campaign rally in October, Musk said he could find "at least USD two trillion" in spending cuts. In January, before Trump was inaugurated, he revised by saying, "if we try for USD two trillion, we've got a good shot at getting one." But in April, at a Cabinet meeting, Musk provided a different target. He was "excited to announce" that they could reach USD 150 billion in savings during the current fiscal year. Whether that figure proves to be accurate is difficult to measure, especially because DOGE routinely inflated or mischaracterised its work. But it falls short of President Bill Clinton's initiative three decades ago, which resulted in USD 136 billion in savings -- the equivalent of more than USD 240 billion today. Elaine Kamarck, a key figure in the Clinton administration, said they focused on making the government more responsive and updating antiquated internal procedures. The work took years. "We went about it methodically, department by department," she said. The effort also reduced the federal workforce by more than 400,000 employees. However, Musk did little to seek insight from people who knew the inner workings of government. "They made some changes without really knowing what they were doing," said Alex Nowrasteh, vice president for economic and social policy studies for the libertarian think tank Cato Institute. He said there were "a lot of unforced errors." In the end, Nowrasteh said, "they set themselves up for failure."
New York Post
2 hours ago
- Business
- New York Post
Asian shares mostly decline as uncertainty grows about what's next with Trump's tariffs
Asian shares were mostly lower Friday as uncertainty grew about what will happen next after a US court blocked many of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 1.1% in afternoon trading to 38,022.62. Government data showed Tokyo core inflation, excluding fresh food, rising to a higher-than-expected 3.6% in May. Some analysts say that makes it more likely the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates. Advertisement 3 President Trump walks to speak to journalists before boarding Air Force One from Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, May 25, 2025. AFP via Getty Images Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 8,436.30. South Korea's Kospi declined 0.9% to 2,696.40, ahead of a presidential election set for next week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 1.4% to 23,234.42, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.3% to 3,354.83. Advertisement On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 117 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%. It's a downshift after stocks initially leaped nearly 2% in Tokyo and Seoul, where markets had the first chance to react to the ruling late Wednesday by the US Court of International Trade. The court said that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act that Trump cited for ordering massive increases in taxes on imports from around the world does not authorize the use of tariffs. 3 The screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between the US dollar and the South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 30, 2025. AP Advertisement The ruling at first raised hopes in financial markets that a hamstrung Trump would not be able to drive the economy into a recession with his tariffs, which had threatened to grind down on global trade and raise prices for consumers already sick of high inflation. But the tariffs remain in place for now while the White House appeals the ruling, and the ultimate outcome is still uncertain. The court's ruling also affects only some of Trump's tariffs, not those on foreign steel, aluminum and autos, which were invoked under a different law. Advertisement The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday allowed the president to temporarily continue collecting the tariffs under the emergency powers law while he appeals the trade court's decision. Trump 'is still able to impose significant and wide-ranging tariffs over the longer-term through other means,' according to Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, chief investment officer of global equities at UBS Global Wealth Management. On Wall Street, tech stocks led the way after Nvidia once again topped analysts' expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. The chip company has grown into one of the US market's largest and most influential stocks because of the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology, and its 3.2% rise was the strongest force by far lifting the S&P 500. All told, the S&P 500 rose 23.62 points to 5,912.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 117.03 to 42,215.73, and the Nasdaq composite gained 74.93 to 19,175.87. 3 Dealers talk to each other near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI). AP In the bond market, Treasury yields eased following mixed economic reports. One said the US economy likely shrunk by less in the first three months of the year than earlier estimated. Another said slightly more US workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. Advertisement The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.43% from 4.47% late Wednesday. In energy trading, benchmark US crude dropped 18 cents to $60.76 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 20 cents to $63.95 a barrel. In currency trading, the US dollar declined to 143.90 Japanese yen from 144.12 yen. The euro cost $1.1347, down from $1.1367.
The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Musk goes from Trump's chainsaw-wielding sidekick to suddenly gone
The White House appeared ready to move on when Musk - the world's richest man, who was once so close to Trump that he stayed overnight in the White House Lincoln Bedroom during visits - finally announced his formal exit in a May 28 post on X, the social media platform he owns. "The offboarding process has begun," a White House official told USA TODAY. Here's a look back at what led to Musk's exit and what's next for DOGE: Musk leaves with DOGE goals unmet Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is leaving after falling vastly short of his ambitious government savings goal. He had set a goal for DOGE to cut $1 trillion from the federal government by the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. He had even talked about $2 trillion in cuts on the 2024 campaign trail when he stumped for Trump. "I think if we try for $2 trillion, we've got a good shot at getting 1 [trillion]," Musk said on January 9. But DOGE's savings total posted on its website currently stands at $175 billion worth of cuts, not even 20% of $1 trillion. And this does not even factor in potential exaggerations or errors in DOGE's calculation, which has been a theme in the group's previous declared savings. Researchers on both the left and the right flagged DOGE for overstating its savings in the Department of Education by hundreds of millions of dollars, and the group was also caught claiming a canceled contract was worth $8 billion when it was actually only $8 million. And some of DOGE's savings will be offset by the costs of imposing layoffs, defending their legality in court and rehiring workers who win their lawsuits. The nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service estimated that DOGE's actions will cost $135 billion this fiscal year - and that's without accounting for the fact that getting rid of IRS agents will lead to reduced tax revenue. More: Elon Musk talks Lincoln Bedroom stays, late-night ice cream as he steps back from DOGE Ahead of his departure, Musk had grown increasingly frustrated by the pace of cuts slowed by the legal setbacks and other political hurdles blocking his efforts to gut the government. In a May 1 interview with USA TODAY and other media outlets, Musk acknowledged that he might not reach his savings goal. "I may not succeed," Musk said. "There's a lot of inertia in the government with respect to cost savings." Despite his departure, Musk this week told the Washington Post that DOGE's next focus will be on fixing the federal government's aging computer systems - something far less controversial than taking a battering ram to the federal workforce. Peak Musk as face of the Trump administration At the peak of his influence, Musk became the most prominent face of the Trump administration besides Trump himself. Musk started on day one of Trump's second term. And he was everywhere: boarding Air Force One with the president on the way to Mar-a-Lago, next to Trump in the Oval Office, wearing a black MAGA hat with his 4-year-old son, X, on his shoulders, and in a prominent seat at Trump's first joint address to Congress since his return to the White House. In an especially exuberant display of his power, Trump hoisted a a blinged-out chainsaw gifted by Argentina's President Javier Milei during an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February. More: Elon Musk wields chainsaw on stage, says he and Trump are battling 'the matrix' The fading out of Musk After Musk's role in the White House led to a public backlash against his electric vehicle company Tesla, Trump in March tried to help by opening the White House South Lawn to showcase Tesla vehicles despite blatant ethical concerns. But gradually, Musk started to fade away as he became a political liability for Trump. Polling has consistently showed more Americans have unfavorable views of Musk than favorable. And Musk suffered an embarrassing setback when he spent $20 million to help the Republican-backed candidate in a state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin - declaring "the future of America and Western civilization" was at stake - only to watch the Democrat when by 10 points. During a Cabinet meeting Trump opened up to reporters in April, Musk spoke only for a few minutes. It was a far cry from Trump's first Cabinet meeting in February, when Musk - wearing a black T-shirt that read "tech support" - dominated the show as he touted DOGE's efforts to purge the government alongside Cabinet secretaries. A few weeks later, Musk announced he would be scaling back his role at DOGE after Tesla on April 22 reported massive 71% first quarter profit losses coinciding with his polarizing tensure in the White House. More: Tesla profits plummet 71% amid backlash to Musk's role with Trump administration An exodus of other DOGE aides Musk's exit as the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency capped a turbulent run in government for the billionaire tech entrepreneur. It came as his designation as a "special government employee" - which allowed him to stay on the job for 130 calendar days a year - ended. His departure leaves an enormous void at DOGE, which rapidly fanned throughout the federal government, seizing control of information technology infrastructure, axing federal government contracts, eliminating entire agencies and pushing out or firing tens of thousands of federal employees. Other top DOGE employees followed Musk out the door, a White House official confirmed. That includes Steve Davis, Musk's top lieutenant who oversaw DOGE's day-to-day operations, publicist Katie Miller and DOGE's top attorney James Burnham. Like Musk, each was working as special government employees. More: Elon Musk takes a backseat as Donald Trump reaches 100 days in office No one replacing Musk for now DOGE, which has been staffed by more than 100 employees, is set to continue operations until the summer of 2026 under an executive order Trump signed in January. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not point to any one individual who will replace Musk, noting that several DOGE employees have "onboarded as political appointees" at the various agencies they've worked to overhaul. "The DOGE leaders are each and every member of the president's Cabinet and the president himself," Leavitt said at a May 29 briefing with reporters. More: Elon Musk leaves the Trump administration, capping his run as federal government slasher In court filings fighting challenges to Musk's authority, the White House had previously argued he was a White House advisor overseeing DOGE - and not a DOGE employee himself. Instead, Trump attorneys argued the DOGE administrator was Amy Gleason, a lesser-known DOGE aide and former official at the U.S. Digital Service. Leavitt, however, did not mention Gleason as she addressed DOGE's future. Musk's break with Trump on tax and spending bill Musk's frustrations in his cost-cutting crusade extended to Trump's domestic agenda outlined in legislation the president has called coined his "big, beautiful bill" The day before his departure, Musk broke with Trump by criticizing the reconciliation bill, which includes Trump's tax cuts, border security measures and other spending measures that" Musk argued undercuts DOGE's central mission to reduce the deficit. "I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk said in an interview May 27 on "CBS Sunday Morning." More: Elon Musk 'disappointed' by the cost of Trump's tax bill, says it undermines DOGE work The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would add $3.8 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. "I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don't know if it can be both. My personal opinion," Musk said in the interview. Trump did not take a swipe at Musk when a reporter asked for a response to Musk's remarks. He instead suggested that the high price tag is the result of tough decisions to keep all Republicans on board in the House, where the GOP has a narrow majority. "We will be negotiating that bill. I'm not happy about certain aspects of it, but I'm thrilled by other aspects of it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on May 28. Leavitt also declined to take a parting shot at Musk when asked about his criticism. "We thank him for his service," she said. "We thank him for getting DOGE off of the ground and the efforts to cut waste fraud and abuse will continue Musk says he will spent much less money on politics Mush, however, still managed to find the spotlight despite his plans to take on a smaller DOGE role. Musk tagged along during Trump's three-country swing to the Middle East in mid-May. He was present for Trump's combative May 21 Oval Office meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Musk's native country. And he continued to speak publicly about politics and his experience with DOGE even as he took part in media interviews designed to spotlight his work with SpaceX and Tesla. More: 'I've done enough': Elon Musk says he's going to spend 'a lot less' money on politics Musk, A Republican megadonor who helped bankroll Trump's 2024 campaign, last week said he intends to substantially cut back his political spending in future elections as he focuses more time on his businesses. "I think in terms of political spending, I'm going to do a lot less in the future," Musk said May 20 at the Bloomberg News Qatar Economic Forum. "I think I've done enough." One week later, in an interview with the Washington Post, Musk complained about DOGE getting unfairly blamed for anything that went wrong in the Trump administration. "DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything," Musk said. "So, like, something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it." Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
Eyewitness News
3 hours ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Elon Musk's rocket-fuelled ride with Trump flames out
WASHINGTON - Elon Musk stormed into US politics as President Donald Trump's chainsaw-brandishing sidekick. Four turbulent months later it's the tech tycoon himself on the chopping block. Trump hailed Musk as "terrific" as he announced that they would hold a joint press conference on Friday as the South African-born magnate leaves the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). "This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way," Trump said on his Truth Social network on Thursday. But the warm words could not hide the open frustrations that Musk, the world's richest man, had expressed in recent weeks about his controversial cost-cutting role for the world's most powerful man. Once a fixture at the Republican president's side, dressed in t-shirts and MAGA baseball caps, Musk had shown growing disillusionment with the obstacles faced by DOGE even as it cut a brutal swath through the US bureaucracy. He leaves far short of his original goal of saving $2 trillion, with The Atlantic magazine calculating he saved just one thousandth of that, despite tens of thousands of people losing their jobs. Instead, he will focus on his SpaceX and Tesla businesses, as well as his goal of colonising Mars. ROCKET-LIKE RISE It was all very different at first, as the 53-year-old Musk rose through Trump's orbit as rapidly as one of his rockets, though they have been known to blow up now and again. Musk was the biggest donor to Trump's 2024 election campaign, and the pair bonded over right-wing politics and a desire to root out what they believed was a wasteful "deep state." READ: Musk to exit US government role after rare break with Trump DOGE was jokingly named after a "memecoin," but it was no joke. Young tech wizards who slept in the White House complex shuttered whole government departments. Foreign countries found their aid cut off. A shades-wearing Musk brandished a chainsaw at a conservative event, boasting of how easy it was to save money, and separately made what appeared to be a Nazi salute. Soon, the man critics dubbed the "co-president" was constantly at Trump's side. The tycoon appeared with his young son X on his shoulders during his first press conference in the Oval Office. He attended cabinet meetings. He and Trump rode on Air Force One and Marine One together. They watched cage fights together. Many wondered how long two such big egos could coexist. But Trump himself remained publicly loyal to the man he called a "genius." One day, the president even turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla dealership after protesters targeted Musk's electric car business. 'GOT INTO FIGHTS' Yet the socially awkward tech magnate also struggled to get a grip on the realities of US politics. The beginning of the end "started [in] mid-March when there were several meetings in the Oval Office and in the cabinet room where basically Elon Musk got into fights," Elaine Kamarck of the Brookings Institution told AFP. One shouting match with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent could reportedly be heard throughout the West Wing. Musk publicly called Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro "dumber than a sack of bricks." Nor did Musk's autocratic style and Silicon Valley creed of "move fast and break things" work well in Washington. The impact on Musk's businesses also began to hit home. A series of SpaceX launches ended in fiery failures, while Tesla shareholders fumed. Musk started musing about stepping back, saying that "DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism" that would carry on without him. Finally, Musk showed the first signs of distance from Trump himself, saying he was "disappointed" in Trump's recent mega-spending bill. Musk also said he would pull back from spending time on politics. The end came, appropriately, in a post by Musk on Wednesday on the X network, which he bought and then turned into a megaphone for his right-wing politics. But Musk's departure might not be the end of the story, said Kamarck. "I think they genuinely like each other, and I think Musk has a lot of money that he can contribute to campaigns if he is so moved. I think there will be a continued relation," she said.
France 24
4 hours ago
- Business
- France 24
Elon Musk's rocket-fueled ride with Trump flames out
Trump hailed Musk as "terrific" as he announced that they would hold a joint press conference on Friday as the South African-born magnate leaves the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). "This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way," Trump said on his Truth Social network on Thursday. But the warm words could not hide the open frustrations that Musk, the world's richest man, had expressed in recent weeks about his controversial cost-cutting role for the world's most powerful man. Once a fixture at the Republican president's side, dressed in t-shirts and MAGA baseball caps, Musk had shown growing disillusionment with the obstacles faced by DOGE even as it cut a brutal swath through the US bureaucracy. He leaves far short of his original goal of saving $2 trillion dollars, with The Atlantic magazine calculating he saved just one thousandth of that, despite tens of thousands of people losing their jobs. Instead he will focus on his Space X and Tesla businesses, as well as his goal of colonizing Mars. Rocket-like rise It was all very different at first, as the 53-year-old Musk rose through Trump's orbit as rapidly as one of his rockets -- though they have been known to blow up now and again. Musk was the biggest donor to Trump's 2024 election campaign and the pair bonded over right-wing politics and a desire to root out what they believed was a wasteful "deep state." DOGE was jokingly named after a "memecoin," but it was no joke. Young tech wizards who slept in the White House complex shuttered whole government departments. Foreign countries found their aid cut off. A shades-wearing Musk brandished a chainsaw at a conservative event, boasting of how easy it was to save money, and separately made what appeared to be a Nazi salute. Soon the man critics dubbed the "co-president" was constantly at Trump's side. The tycoon appeared with his young son X on his shoulders during his first press conference in the Oval Office. He attended cabinet meetings. He and Trump rode on Air Force One and Marine One together. They watched cage fights together. Many wondered how long two such big egos could coexist. But Trump himself remained publicly loyal to the man he called a "genius." One day, the president even turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla dealership after protesters targeted Musk's electric car business. 'Got into fights' Yet the socially awkward tech magnate also struggled to get a grip on the realities of US politics. The beginning of the end "started (in) mid-March when there were several meetings in the Oval Office and in the cabinet room where basically Elon Musk got into fights," Elaine Kamarck of the Brookings Institution told AFP. One shouting match with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent could reportedly be heard throughout the West Wing. Musk publicly called Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro "dumber than a sack of bricks." Nor did Musk's autocratic style and Silicon Valley creed of "move fast and break things" work well in Washington. The impact on Musk's businesses also began to hit home. A series of Space X launches ended in fiery failures, while Tesla shareholders fumed. Musk started musing about stepping back, saying that "DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism" that would carry on without him. Finally, Musk showed the first signs of distance from Trump himself, saying he was "disappointed" in Trump's recent mega spending bill. Musk also said he would pull back from spending time on politics. The end came, appropriately, in a post by Musk on Wednesday on the X network, which he bought and then turned into a megaphone for his right-wing politics. But Musk's departure might not be the end of the story, said Kamarck. "I think they genuinely like each other and I think Musk has a lot of money that he can contribute to campaigns if he is so moved. I think there will be a continued relation," she said.
