In the last few days of May 2025, Tesla founder and technology giant Elon Musk's brief "guest appearance" in American politics came to an end. He officially announced the end of his term as a specially hired government employee at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Although US President Donald Trump emphasized at a "farewell party" for him at the White House that Musk "did not really leave" and would continue to serve as a "friend and advisor", Musk himself admitted that promoting reforms in government departments was much more difficult than he initially expected. This series of events, coupled with Musk's previous public criticism of certain policies of the Trump administration, has triggered a lot of speculation about whether the "brotherhood" between the two has changed and Musk's future political influence.
Musk says goodbye to DOGE
On the morning of May 29, 2025, Musk officially announced the end of his special appointment at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a short post. He wrote: "As my term as a special government employee ends, I want to thank President @realDonaldTrump for giving me the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending. The @DOGE mission will grow stronger over time and become a way of life in government operations."
The DOGE plan was officially launched by President Trump through an executive order on January 20, 2025, aiming to modernize the US government's information technology, improve administrative efficiency, and significantly reduce wasteful government spending. Musk was deeply involved in it as a "specially hired government employee" and promised to complete his phased tasks within 130 days. His withdrawal now is basically consistent with the time point previously announced.
In recognition of Musk's contribution to the DOGE department, President Trump personally held a "farewell" press conference for Musk in the Oval Office of the White House on May 31. At the meeting, Trump praised Musk for bringing "generational bureaucratic changes" and presented Musk with a metal key with the White House emblem on the spot, symbolizing the country's gratitude for his contribution.
Although Musk's term in office has expired for 130 days under the (Special Government Employees Act), Trump said at the press conference with reservation: "He hasn't really left. He will appear frequently... I think he will do a lot of things." Trump even described the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as Musk's "child," implying that he would not completely let it go.
In response to Trump's hospitality, Musk said that after his statutory term as a "special government employee" ends, he expects to "continue to visit" Washington, DC, and continue to serve as the president's "friend and adviser." He also said that he still believes that the DOGE department will find more ways to cut government spending and achieve the ambitious goal of cutting $1 trillion before the program is scheduled to end in mid-2026 (there is a possibility of extension).
However, Musk also admitted in an interview that it was much more difficult to implement drastic reforms in government departments than he expected. The bureaucracy, vested interests and complex rules and regulations within the government all posed a huge challenge to improving efficiency. This statement seems to have added another layer of annotation to his departure from the DOGE department.
It is worth noting that although Trump tried his best to create an atmosphere that his relationship with Musk was still solid at the farewell party, speculation about the possible cracks in the "brotherhood" between the two has not stopped. An important clue is that Musk had clearly expressed his disappointment with the "big and beautiful" spending bill introduced by the Trump administration in an interview with CBS.
Musk believes that this bill, which aims to implement a comprehensive tax cut worth up to $4.5 trillion over the next decade, will lead to a significant increase in the US budget deficit and essentially "destroy" the efforts made by the DOGE team he leads to save government spending. He said in an interview: "I am disappointed with this huge spending bill, which increases the budget deficit... and undermines the work being done by the Government Efficiency Team... I think a bill can be big or beautiful, but I don't know if it can be both. This is my personal opinion."
Critics estimate that the Big Beautiful Act could add $3.3 trillion to $3.8 trillion to the U.S. national debt over the next decade. Musk has long warned that the U.S. is at risk of going “bankrupt” if the deficit problem is not brought under control. In his comments to CBS, he clearly echoed these concerns about the soaring deficit.
Musk has also criticized the White House's trade policy, calling then-trade czar Peter Navarro "an idiot" and "dumber than a bag of bricks," and said he thought lowering tariffs might be a better idea. These public criticisms have undoubtedly cast a shadow on Musk's relationship with Trump.
Musk's future moves
Since its establishment, the achievements of the DOGE department have been controversial. Supporters believe that Musk's joining has brought much-needed innovation momentum and efficiency thinking of private enterprises to the rigid and inefficient government agencies. However, critics believe that many of the DOGE department's initiatives lack substantial results, and its claim of "saving $10 billion per week" lacks reliable data support. Large-scale layoffs of government employees may also weaken the functions of regulatory agencies and pose potential risks to long-term governance.
Now, Musk, the soul of the DOGE department, has officially announced his departure. The future direction of the department and who will take over the leadership have become unknowns and require time to continue to observe.
At the same time, Musk has made it clear that he will refocus on his core business and return to the state of running the business with all his strength, emphasizing: "Back to the days of staying at work 24 hours a day, sleeping in conference rooms, server rooms or factories. I must now concentrate on X, xAI, Tesla and Starship launch because we are about to launch some key technologies." He also reflected on the operation interruption of the X platform this week, admitted that there is still significant room for improvement at the operational level, and said that the fault-tolerant backup mechanism that should have been activated did not work properly, which must be thoroughly reviewed.
After the news broke, Tesla's stock price rose in after-hours trading, which seemed to reflect the market's positive expectation that Musk would devote more energy to business operations.
The indispensable "horse consultant"
In general, although Musk has nominally resigned from the DOGE department, the political alliance between him and Trump does not seem to have been completely dissolved. Judging from Trump's remarks, Musk is likely to continue to provide advice to the White House on policy formulation and reform routes in the future, continuing his influence in Washington.
For Musk, temporarily leaving his official position can not only defuse criticism that he is "too busy" to handle multiple important roles, but also avoid completely cutting ties with the White House, thereby maintaining the necessary policy influence. The two sides seem to have made a "cut", but in fact both have retained considerable room for maneuver. In this interaction between a tech giant and a political strongman, the boundary between politics and business remains blurred. Musk has simply chosen to continue to participate as a more flexible "advisor", and how his future role and influence will evolve will continue to be the focus of market attention.
