First Buddy Out! Elon Musk Stepping Down from DOGE After Trump Raised Alarm Over Billionaire's Increasingly Wacky Behavior
Many of Trump's allies have already become divided following Musk's latest stunt.
April 2 2025, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
Elon Musk is reportedly getting the heck out of DOGE, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
But the White House said the tech titan and Trump bestie call the announcement "garbage," and indicated it was always the plan for the Tesla founder to head back to his other responsibilities next month.
Musk has been one of Trump's biggest supporters since the presidential race.
One of Trump's first acts back in office was to name Musk head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
The advisory board was established to operate from outside government to "dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies."
Since its formation, the organization has eliminated thousands of federal employees and divisions, with a goal of slashing $1trillion from the federal budget.
However, DOGE has been riddled with controversy since its inception, and Musk has been blamed for the consequences both personally and profitably.
Most notably, the moves have also seen Musk's Tesla company and stock prices drop sharply – with sales down and vandalism directed at dealerships.
Trump appointed Musk head of DOGE after taking office.
On Wednesday, Politico reported Trump has told his inner circle that Musk is planning to step back from his advisory role.
According to the site: "The president remains pleased with Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency initiative, but both men have decided in recent days that it will soon be time for Musk to return to his businesses and take on a supporting role."
However, later in the day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move has always been coming.
She tweeted: "This 'scoop' is garbage. Elon Musk and President Trump have both *publicly* stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete."
Musk is officially recognized as a "special government employee." That designation caps a person's workdays per year at 130 days. That means Musk's tenure will be over at the end of May.
Musk has seen his reputation and businesses tumble since assuming the role.
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RadarOnline.com previously revealed the relationship between Trump and Musk was starting to sour. Earlier this month, the president told cabinet leaders that they are the ones pulling the strings when it comes to firing employees, not the Tesla billionaire.
According to sources, Musk was in the meeting when Trump told his top officials the DOGE boss is simply there to make recommendations on who to give the boot to, but has zero power when it comes to actually doing the firing.
Trump's apparent instructions come after Musk – known as "First Buddy" – was vocal about cutting government waste, previously sending an email to federal employees urging them to list five things they had done that week, giving them a deadline, too.
Musk then took to X, telling workers the email was to figure out “who had a pulse and two working neurons," and then warned those who did not send the email would “soon be furthering their career elsewhere."
Trump has already been laying the groundwork for Musk's departure, telling reporters on Monday: "I think he’s been amazing, but I also think he’s got a big company to run ... And at some point, he’s going to be going back. He wants to," before adding "I’d keep him as long as I could keep him."
