President Donald Trump has reportedly told his Cabinet and inner circle that Elon Musk is stepping back from his Government role of running DOGE – the Department of Government Efficiency – to return to the business world in a move that sent Tesla’s stock soaring. The Mail has the story.
The Tesla and Space X founder will soon be returning to the business world, Politico reported, in a move that rattled the stock market and caused shock waves in Washington.
It was a joint decision between the two men and Trump said he remains happy with Musk’s work with the Department of Government Efficiency.
But Musk has become a controversial figure due to his slash and burn style of cutting down the federal Government. He also just sank $20 million into Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race only to have his Republican candidate lose.
And stock in Tesla has dropped sharply with sales down and sales lots are being set on fire.
The report Musk is going back to his business roots did send his company shares’ soaring. He became a billionaire through his various corporate holdings.
Trump empowered him to bring that power and success to the federal Government.
The decision caused immediate controversy leading to questions as to whether Musk, whose Space X company has billions in Government contracts, had a conflict of interest.
Additionally, Musk’s work to cut the size of the federal Government has resulted in mass firings and lawsuits against the Trump administration.
He’s also proven unpredictable.
In all, Musk began to be seen as a political liability. The Democratic candidate in Wisconsin won, in part, by shaping the race as ‘The People vs Elon Musk.’
Publicly Trump has supported Musk, keeping him close and visible. Musk has been with him in the Oval Office, walked the path from the White House to Marine One, and gotten rides on Air Force One.
The President even turned the South Lawn of the White House into a Tesla show room after the company stock sank. Trump wrote Musk a personal cheque for one of the electric cars.
But privately Trump has told his Cabinet that they are in charge of each of their departments, not Musk. Musk was in that Cabinet meeting when Trump made the announcement.
And there were mutterings of tension with Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
Musk was reported to not follow the White House chain of command, which would require him to keep Wiles in the loop more.
And his unexpected comments and commentary on X – including sharing unvetted and uncoordinated plans to gut federal agencies – led to a PR crisis for the administration.
Worth reading in full.
I’d imagine it’s mostly to do with not being able to manage the tensions and conflicts of being a high-powered Government official and CEO of several major companies. The recent calls from SpaceX to be exempt from Trumps’ tariffs made the conflict clear. But will DOGE succeed without Musk, its architect and driving force?
Stop Press: Musk has denied the reports, calling them “fake news“.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.