Elon Musk leaves his White House post after 5 months

"As my time as a special government official comes to an end, I would like to thank President Trump for the opportunity to reduce waste. The Doge's mission will grow stronger over time, becoming a way of life for the entire government." So says Elon Musk on X formalising his departure from the Trump administration, where he had a role as a 'special government employee' tasked with cutting government spending.

Despite the upheaval, the billionaire entrepreneur has struggled to settle into the unfamiliar reality of Washington and has achieved far less than he had hoped. He has drastically reduced his spending cut target - from $2 trillion to $1 trillion, for savings now estimated by the Doge at $175 billion - and has increasingly expressed frustration at the resistance to his goals. At times, he has come into conflict with other leading members of the Trump administration, angered by the newcomer's efforts to reorganise their departments, and has faced fierce political backlash for his actions.

Musk's role in Trump's service was always intended to be temporary and he had recently signalled that he would return his attention to running his own businesses, such as electric car maker Tesla and space company SpaceX. But administration officials had often been vague as to when Musk would leave his position at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency, known as the Doge.