Latest news with #Musk-founded
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump-Musk feud leaves some DOGE staffers worried about their futures: Sources
On the heels of the public war of words between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, anxiety is mounting among the remaining staff of the Musk-founded Department of Government Efficiency, with some staffers worried not only about their future in government but about potentially becoming future targets of the administration, according to sources. Some DOGE staffers still embedded across federal agencies fear that the rift and public mudslinging between Trump and Musk could leave them vulnerable to political retribution and damage their future job prospects, multiple sources familiar with internal discussions told ABC News. Some fear their association with DOGE could make them targets if the feud escalates and Trump moves to investigate the government-slashing initiative that Musk led until he stepped away last week, the sources said. MORE: Trump tells ABC Musk 'lost his mind'; 'not particularly' interested in talking to him Others worry that if Trump distances himself from DOGE, their ties to it could become a professional liability, said sources. ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment. Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, grew close to Trump over the last year as he campaigned for Trump's reelection before helping launch DOGE to try to fulfill Trump's goal of slashing the federal government. A quasi-governmental entity, DOGE has generated controversy as it's shuttered government agencies and gained access to sensitive data. The relationship between the president and the world's richest person erupted into an exchange of insults on social media Thursday as Musk slammed Trump for "ingratitude" over the 2024 election while Trump threatened to "terminate Elon's governmental subsidies and contracts." Amid the spat, War Room host and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of Trump who has been critical of Musk for years, has been calling for the president to launch investigations into the billionaire following Thursday's blowup. "This is a national security issue," Bannon said on his show Thursday. "We're dealing with a very unstable individual out saying dangerous things about the president of the United States. He must be investigated ... and all government contracts should be suspended." Several of Musk's top allies who served as special government employees with Musk, including Steve Davis, his longtime lieutenant and DOGE operational lead, departed DOGE last week along with Musk. But many DOGE employees remain embedded across federal agencies, including at the Office of Personnel Management, Veterans Affairs, Treasury, IRS, and Social Security Administration, sources said. Still, Musk's departure marked a major turning point for DOGE and how it will function day to day, given officials like Davis helped lead the DOGE team on a daily basis for months across the federal government. In Musk's absence, DOGE staff will continue to report to their respective agency leadership, sources said. Last week, the White House said that moving forward the "DOGE leaders are each and every member of the president's cabinet and the president himself." Sources tell ABC News that some DOGE staffers still working inside the federal government have begun looking for jobs elsewhere. And while there is concern among some about their future career prospects, some major tech companies have expressed interest in hiring DOGE alumni -- with companies like Coinbase even creating a dedicated hiring portal specifically recruiting former DOGE staff. MORE: Trump Musk feud explodes with claim president is in Epstein files Despite Trump and Musk's public feud, the president has yet to publicly criticize DOGE during the war of words, and has previously lauded the initiative. At a White House press availability in the Oval Office last week, Trump said Musk "delivered a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington" and described DOGE as "the most sweeping and consequential government reform program in generations". Musk, for his part, downplayed the idea that DOGE needed him to survive as he left the Trump administration last week. "DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism," he said. "You wouldn't ask the question, 'Who would lead Buddhism?'"
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump-Musk feud leaves some DOGE staffers worried about their futures: Sources
On the heels of the public war of words between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, anxiety is mounting among the remaining staff of the Musk-founded Department of Government Efficiency, with some staffers worried not only about their future in government but about potentially becoming future targets of the administration, according to sources. Some DOGE staffers still embedded across federal agencies fear that the rift and public mudslinging between Trump and Musk could leave them vulnerable to political retribution and damage their future job prospects, multiple sources familiar with internal discussions told ABC News. Some fear their association with DOGE could make them targets if the feud escalates and Trump moves to investigate the government-slashing initiative that Musk led until he stepped away last week, the sources said. MORE: Trump tells ABC Musk 'lost his mind'; 'not particularly' interested in talking to him Others worry that if Trump distances himself from DOGE, their ties to it could become a professional liability, said sources. ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment. Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, grew close to Trump over the last year as he campaigned for Trump's reelection before helping launch DOGE to try to fulfill Trump's goal of slashing the federal government. A quasi-governmental entity, DOGE has generated controversy as it's shuttered government agencies and gained access to sensitive data. The relationship between the president and the world's richest person erupted into an exchange of insults on social media Thursday as Musk slammed Trump for "ingratitude" over the 2024 election while Trump threatened to "terminate Elon's governmental subsidies and contracts." Amid the spat, War Room host and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of Trump who has been critical of Musk for years, has been calling for the president to launch investigations into the billionaire following Thursday's blowup. "This is a national security issue," Bannon said on his show Thursday. "We're dealing with a very unstable individual out saying dangerous things about the president of the United States. He must be investigated ... and all government contracts should be suspended." Several of Musk's top allies who served as special government employees with Musk, including Steve Davis, his longtime lieutenant and DOGE operational lead, departed DOGE last week along with Musk. But many DOGE employees remain embedded across federal agencies, including at the Office of Personnel Management, Veterans Affairs, Treasury, IRS, and Social Security Administration, sources said. Still, Musk's departure marked a major turning point for DOGE and how it will function day to day, given officials like Davis helped lead the DOGE team on a daily basis for months across the federal government. In Musk's absence, DOGE staff will continue to report to their respective agency leadership, sources said. Last week, the White House said that moving forward the "DOGE leaders are each and every member of the president's cabinet and the president himself." Sources tell ABC News that some DOGE staffers still working inside the federal government have begun looking for jobs elsewhere. And while there is concern among some about their future career prospects, some major tech companies have expressed interest in hiring DOGE alumni -- with companies like Coinbase even creating a dedicated hiring portal specifically recruiting former DOGE staff. MORE: Trump Musk feud explodes with claim president is in Epstein files Despite Trump and Musk's public feud, the president has yet to publicly criticize DOGE during the war of words, and has previously lauded the initiative. At a White House press availability in the Oval Office last week, Trump said Musk "delivered a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington" and described DOGE as "the most sweeping and consequential government reform program in generations". Musk, for his part, downplayed the idea that DOGE needed him to survive as he left the Trump administration last week. "DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism," he said. "You wouldn't ask the question, 'Who would lead Buddhism?'"
20 hours ago
- Business
Trump-Musk feud leaves some DOGE staffers worried about their futures: Sources
On the heels of the public war of words between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, anxiety is mounting among the remaining staff of the Musk-founded Department of Government Efficiency, with some staffers worried not only about their future in government but about potentially becoming future targets of the administration, according to sources. Some DOGE staffers still embedded across federal agencies fear that the rift and public mudslinging between Trump and Musk could leave them vulnerable to political retribution and damage their future job prospects, multiple sources familiar with internal discussions told ABC News. Some fear their association with DOGE could make them targets if the feud escalates and Trump moves to investigate the government-slashing initiative that Musk led until he stepped away last week, the sources said. Others worry that if Trump distances himself from DOGE, their ties to it could become a professional liability, said sources. ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment. Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, grew close to Trump over the last year as he campaigned for Trump's reelection before helping launch DOGE to try to fulfill Trump's goal of slashing the federal government. A quasi-governmental entity, DOGE has generated controversy as it's shuttered government agencies and gained access to sensitive data. The relationship between the president and the world's richest person erupted into an exchange of insults on social media Thursday as Musk slammed Trump for "ingratitude" over the 2024 election while Trump threatened to "terminate Elon's governmental subsidies and contracts." Amid the spat, War Room host and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of Trump who has been critical of Musk for years, has been calling for the president to launch investigations into the billionaire following Thursday's blowup. "This is a national security issue," Bannon said on his show Thursday. "We're dealing with a very unstable individual out saying dangerous things about the president of the United States. He must be investigated ... and all government contracts should be suspended." Several of Musk's top allies who served as special government employees with Musk, including Steve Davis, his longtime lieutenant and DOGE operational lead, departed DOGE last week along with Musk. But many DOGE employees remain embedded across federal agencies, including at the Office of Personnel Management, Veterans Affairs, Treasury, IRS, and Social Security Administration, sources said. Still, Musk's departure marked a major turning point for DOGE and how it will function day to day, given officials like Davis helped lead the DOGE team on a daily basis for months across the federal government. In Musk's absence, DOGE staff will continue to report to their respective agency leadership, sources said. Last week, the White House said that moving forward the "DOGE leaders are each and every member of the president's cabinet and the president himself." Sources tell ABC News that some DOGE staffers still working inside the federal government have begun looking for jobs elsewhere. And while there is concern among some about their future career prospects, some major tech companies have expressed interest in hiring DOGE alumni -- with companies like Coinbase even creating a dedicated hiring portal specifically recruiting former DOGE staff. Despite Trump and Musk's public feud, the president has yet to publicly criticize DOGE during the war of words, and has previously lauded the initiative. At a White House press availability in the Oval Office last week, Trump said Musk "delivered a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington" and described DOGE as "the most sweeping and consequential government reform program in generations". Musk, for his part, downplayed the idea that DOGE needed him to survive as he left the Trump administration last week.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Trump threatens to cut Musk government contracts amid agenda bill spat
June 5 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to cut Elon Musk's government contracts through Tesla amid his departure from his role cutting government spending and opposition to Trump's sweeping legislative agenda bill. Trump threatened to end all government contracts with the Musk-founded Tesla in a post on Truth Social and suggested that would be a fast way to reduce government spending. "The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon's governmental subsidies and contracts," Trump wrote. Tesla share prices declined by more than 14% on Thursday and shed $152 billion in value from the EV maker. Trump on Thursday accused Musk of going "crazy" after the president canceled the federal electric vehicle mandate imposed by the Biden administration. "I took away his EV mandate that forced everyone to buy electric cars that nobody else wanted," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday. "He just went crazy!" Trump said he asked Musk to leave his advisory position with DOGE, although Musk was scheduled to exit the position at the end of May. Musk earlier said Trump would not have won the Nov. 5 election without his help. He contributed an estimated $250 million to Trump's campaign effort. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," Musk said Thursday morning in a post on X. Musk has criticized the proposed "one big, beautiful" federal government budget bill as increasing the nation's debt and negating his work with DOGE. The entrepreneur opposes the spending bill that the House has passed and is before the Senate because it removed tax credits and subsidies for buying EVs, Trump claimed. "I don't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done that months ago," Trump said in a subsequent Truth Social post on Thursday afternoon. "This is one of the greatest bills ever presented to Congress," he continued. "It's a record cut in expenses, $1.6 trillion dollars, and the biggest tax cut ever given." If the measure is not passed, Trump said it will trigger a 68% tax increase, "and things far worse than that." The president said the "easiest way to save money ... is to terminate Elon's governmental subsidies and contracts" with Tesla. Later on Thursday, Musk in an X post said it is "time to drop the really big bomb" on the president. Trump "is in the Epstein files," Musk said. "That is the real reason they have not been made public." Musk did not say in what context Trump allegedly appears in the Epstein files, but ended his post with: "Have a nice day, DJT!" He made a subsequent post that asks: "Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?" Trump and Musk often appeared together at high-profile events in the first four months of the administration. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
UPI
a day ago
- Automotive
- UPI
Trump threatens to cut Musk government contracts amid agenda bill spat
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump hold a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House on Friday as Musk ends his tenure as director of the Department of Government Efficiency. Photo by Francis Chung/UPI | License Photo June 5 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to cut Elon Musk's government contracts through Tesla amid his departure from his role cutting government spending and opposition to Trump's sweeping legislative agenda bill. Trump threatened to end all government contracts with the Musk-founded Tesla in a post on Truth Social and suggested that would be a fast way to reduce government spending. "The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon's governmental subsidies and contracts," Trump wrote. Tesla share prices declined by more than 14% on Thursday and shed $152 billion in value from the EV maker. Trump on Thursday accused Musk of going "crazy" after the president canceled the federal electric vehicle mandate imposed by the Biden administration. "I took away his EV mandate that forced everyone to buy electric cars that nobody else wanted," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday. "He just went crazy!" Trump said he asked Musk to leave his advisory position with DOGE, although Musk was scheduled to exit the position at the end of May. Musk earlier said Trump would not have won the Nov. 5 election without his help. He contributed an estimated $250 million to Trump's campaign effort. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," Musk said Thursday morning in a post on X. Musk has criticized the proposed "one big, beautiful" federal government budget bill as increasing the nation's debt and negating his work with DOGE. The entrepreneur opposes the spending bill that the House has passed and is before the Senate because it removed tax credits and subsidies for buying EVs, Trump claimed. "I don't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done that months ago," Trump said in a subsequent Truth Social post on Thursday afternoon. "This is one of the greatest bills ever presented to Congress," he continued. "It's a record cut in expenses, $1.6 trillion dollars, and the biggest tax cut ever given." If the measure is not passed, Trump said it will trigger a 68% tax increase, "and things far worse than that." The president said the "easiest way to save money ... is to terminate Elon's governmental subsidies and contracts" with Tesla. Later on Thursday, Musk in an X post said it is "time to drop the really big bomb" on the president. Trump "is in the Epstein files," Musk said. "That is the real reason they have not been made public." Musk did not say in what context Trump allegedly appears in the Epstein files, but ended his post with: "Have a nice day, DJT!" He made a subsequent post that asks: "Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?" Trump and Musk often appeared together at high-profile events in the first four months of the administration.
