Musk bids farewell to Trump: the businessman leaves government amid tension and criticism

WashingtonOn election night, as Donald Trump celebrated his victory at the polls, he announced that "a star" had been born: he was referring to Elon Musk, who had played a key role in the Republican's rise. Four months and eight days after Trump was inaugurated as president, the star faded from his departure. the massive cuts by the US administration amid rising tensions with the government's inner circle and his falling popularity. He made it official just hours after CBS published a preview of the interview with Musk that will air on Sunday, in which the billionaire criticized Trump's tax reform and said he was "disappointed" because it "undermined" the work he had done at the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). Musk's withdrawal had been a public secret since that in April the president communicated internally to his cabinetThe billionaire is expected to soon step down from his role as head of the DOGE, which has driven sweeping staff cuts in the US administration.

"As my term as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending. DOGE's mission will only get stronger over time as it becomes a way of life across the government," Musk wrote in a post on X on Wednesday. The billionaire's role spearheading the staff reduction not only caused chaos within the administration and generated friction with government secretaries, but also posed an obvious conflict of interest: The owner of companies that have received numerous federal grants and public contracts decided where the budget scissors would be passed.

This Wednesday, shortly before announcing his departure, Musk appeared on television and said he was "disappointed to see [Trump's] massive spending bill, which increases the budget deficit instead of reducing it and undermines the work the DOGE team is doing." "I think the law can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don't think it can be both," Musk said, alluding to the official name the White House has given to the new law: the big and beautiful law (One Big Beautiful Bill).

Musk, who had called himself a "great friend" of Trump, is distancing himself, justifying it by saying he wants to focus again on his business. In April, he had already announced that he would spend less time in Washington and more time leading Tesla. The electric car company has suffered significant losses since its owner took a more active role in politics. Investors were concerned that he had not focused on business while car sales fell and the company's stock price also fell. Tesla's share price fell 45% this year before recovering slightly thanks to a rebound in the markets.

Last week, the billionaire already announced that he would cut his political donations. "I think I've done enough," Musk said in a video interview at the Qatar Economic Forum. Although at the beginning of his political involvement, the South African's brand gave more momentum to Trump's candidacy, since then his popularity has plummeted, and consequently, the president's. In polls from Trump's first month in office, 71% of Americans believed the wealthy had too much influence over the White House, while 49% disapproved of Musk's business style, while 34% defended him.

When Musk became Trump's right-hand man, many analysts bet that the relationship had an expiration date. due to the egos of bothStill, what seems to have marked Musk's exit path has been the internal friction with other members of the president's cabinet. This is what they had been doing over the last week, under threat of being fired if they didn't respond. A closed-door meeting with the rest of the administration secretaries and Trump himself. The outbreak came when the president signed a new executive order giving administration secretaries the final say on cuts, moving away from Musk's chainsaw and toward the "scalpel." Wiles. Wiles had hinted at his frustration with Musk when he began dismantling the international cooperation agency USAID. Criticism of the administration.

After the formal dismissal, the relationship between the two magnates cooled. On several occasions, Musk publicly expressed his disagreements with the president's policies.