President Donald Trump has told his Cabinet and inner circle that Elon Musk is stepping back from his government role.
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 unpredictability.
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 check 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.
Musk is designated as a ‘special government employee,’ which has a 130-day time limit.
Many were worried Trump would find a way around that restriction. The designation also exempts Musk from some ethics and conflict-of-interest rules.
The 130-day period is expected to expire in late May or early June.
And it appears the president is ready to let go of the man who spent $200 million to get him elected.
But many don’t expect Musk to entirely disappear.
One aide told Politico that anyone who thinks Musk is going to disappear entirely from Trump’s orbit is ‘fooling themselves.’
The Tesla founder will likely still have regular access to Trump and an open invitation to the Oval Office.