Why Did Elon Musk Leave The Trump Administration?

Elon Musk, who has served as a top presidential advisor and the head of the Trump-created Department of Government Efficiency, announced this week that he is leaving his role in Washington.

CNBC reported that Musk has presented his move as a “scheduled” departure, coming at the end of a 130-day appointment as a special government employee. He has indicated that he will spend more time managing his companies, including SpaceX, Tesla, and the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. However, Musk’s departure from Washington, where he initially wielded significant power within the Trump administration, comes amid backlash to DOGE and tensions with the White House.

Why is Elon Musk facing backlash over DOGE and his government role?

Musk has courted attention and the spotlight in recent years, including buying the social media platform Twitter and rebranding it as X, where he posts regularly; however, he appears to be bothered by public criticism of his actions. Since its creation, DOGE has been criticized for causing disruption within the government, interfering with the work of government agencies, improperly handling sensitive information, costing federal employees their jobs, and failing to provide valid examples of the “massive waste fraud and abuse” that Musk claimed existed. Musk recently complained to The Washington Post that DOGE had become the “whipping boy for everything.” The entrepreneur lamented that “something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.”

How did Elon Musk’s time in Washington affect Tesla, SpaceX and X?

Public disapproval of Musk and his time in Washington has impacted his companies. People across the X site criticized him for making a gesture on Inauguration Day that resembled a Nazi salute. The social media platform has also experienced several outages, which Musk has partially blamed on “cyberattacks.” Tesla’s share prices dropped significantly this spring as the backlash against Musk grew, and he divided his attention between his corporate and government work. Several of the company’s cars or dealerships have also been targeted for vandalism. Additionally, several rockets launched by SpaceX have exploded in mid-air, a phenomenon the company has labeled a “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” raising questions about the company’s technology and its future.

What went wrong between Elon Musk and the Trump administration?

While Musk’s companies have struggled in his absence, his relationship with the Trump administration has also soured over time. While the White House claims that Musk still has a good relationship with President Donald Trump, Musk has disagreed with the president on key policies. He publicly criticized the administration’s aggressive tariff policy and attacked Trump’s economic advisor, Peter Navarro, calling him “dumber than a sack of bricks.” Musk has recently come out against the “big, beautiful bill” being pushed by Trump and congressional Republicans, saying that the increase to the federal deficit the bill will bring about will undo the work done by DOGE.

“I think a bill can be big, or it could be beautiful, but I don’t know if it could be both,” Musk said in a recent CBS Sunday Morning interview.

All of these issues have developed even as Musk has grown more disappointed with his work in Washington, and members of Trump’s White House appeared to become increasingly frustrated with Musk’s presence. Whether Musk continues to be involved in politics remains to be seen, but for now, at least, it appears that the billionaire’s time as a top figure in Washington is over.

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