Say what you’ll concerning the Washington rumor mill, but it surely positive acts quick.
Lower than a day after Elon Musk’s decide for the Wisconsin Supreme Courtroom suffered a bruising defeat on the polls, reports started surfacing that Donald Trump is getting ready to see the chainsaw-wielding tech billionaire to the exit.
In line with Politico, which cited three “Trump insiders,” the president has knowledgeable members of his Cupboard that Musk shall be wrapping up his time on the Division of Authorities Effectivity inside a matter of weeks. Hours later, NBC Information confirmed the reporting, citing a “senior authorities official” who mentioned Musk would depart the administration as soon as his 130-day stint as a “particular authorities worker” is up.
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt has since known as the reporting “rubbish,” however didn’t contradict it outright. “Elon Musk and President Trump have each *publicly* said that Elon will depart from public service as a particular authorities worker when his unbelievable work at DOGE is full,” Leavitt wrote on X.
Certainly, simply final week, Musk predicted in an interview with Fox Information that DOGE “could have achieved a lot of the work required to scale back the deficit by $1 trillion” by the top of 130 days. And on Monday, Trump himself told reporters that “sooner or later he’ll be going again,” however didn’t pin that date all the way down to a deadline.
Wherever the narrative is coming from, it hardly appears unintended. In donating millions to Wisconsin Supreme Courtroom candidate Brad Schimel and doling out big checks to some fortunate (and infrequently well-connected) voters within the state, Musk made himself the cheesehead-wearing face of that failed race.
In fact, Musk’s potential departure from DOGE doesn’t imply he’ll disappear from Trump’s orbit completely. Not solely is he nonetheless the richest man on the planet, who has confirmed himself greater than prepared to spend these riches on Republican politics; he’s additionally absorbed a variety of the flack for the administration’s actions that in any other case might need been directed at Trump. As proof: See Tesla’s dwindling inventory value, slowing gross sales, and protest-battered showrooms. “Elon’s taking a variety of bullets for Trump—loads—and Trump is aware of that and sees that,” one Trump insider advised Politico. “But when it begins to rub off on him, that’s when the honeymoon ends.”
