Posted on 04/02/2025 8:47:06 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
President Donald Trump has told his inner circle, including members of his Cabinet, that Elon Musk will be stepping back in the coming weeks from his current role as governing partner, ubiquitous cheerleader and Washington hatchet man.
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, according to three Trump insiders who were granted anonymity to describe the evolving relationship.
Musk’s looming retreat comes as some Trump administration insiders and many outside allies have become frustrated with his unpredictability and increasingly view the billionaire as a political liability, a dynamic that was thrown into stark relief Tuesday when a conservative judge Musk vocally supported lost his bid for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat by 10 points.
It also represents a stark shift in the Trump-Musk relationship from a month ago, when White House officials and allies were predicting Musk was “here to stay” and that Trump would find a way to blow past the 130-day time limit.
One senior administration official said Musk is likely to retain an informal role as an adviser and continue to be an occasional face around the White House grounds. Another cautioned that anyone who thinks Musk is going to disappear entirely from Trump’s orbit is “fooling themselves.”
The transition, the insiders said, is likely to correspond to the end of Musk’s time as a “special government employee,” a special status that temporarily exempts him from some ethics and conflict-of-interest rules. That 130-day period is expected to expire in late May or early June.
Musk’s defenders inside the administration believe that the time is right for a transition, given their view that there’s only so much more he can cut from government agencies without shaving too close to the bone.
But many others say, he’s an unpredictable, unmanageable force who has had issues communicating his plans with Cabinet secretaries and through the White House chain of command led by Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, frequently sending them into a frenzy with unexpected and off-message comments on X, his social-media platform — including sharing unvetted and uncoordinated plans to gut federal agencies.
The political threat Musk poses was highlighted Tuesday after Democrats seized on Musk’s roughly $20 million investment in the Wisconsin race, with some openly calling it a referendum on the polarizing mogul.
Trump, however, had already started easing the glide path starting more than a week before the election — including at a March 24 Cabinet meeting where he told attendees that Musk would be transitioning out of the administration, according to one of the insiders, who did not attend the meeting but was briefed on the comments. A senior administration official confirmed Trump discussed Musk’s transition at the meeting.
Immediately after making the announcement, Trump invited reporters and cameras in for the tail end of the meeting, where he lavished praise on Musk, who attended the meeting wearing a red MAGA hat. Cabinet secretaries — many of whom had clashed with Musk just weeks before over Musk’s bull-in-a-china-shop approach to cutting their departments — in turn jumped in to hail his bureaucracy-slashing campaign.
“Elon, I want to thank you — I know you’ve been through a lot,” Trump said, mentioning death threats and the spate vandalism directed at the cars built by Tesla before calling him “a patriot” and “a friend of mine.”
Both men subsequently hinted publicly at a transition. When Fox News’ Bret Baier asked Musk on Thursday whether he’d be ready to leave when his special government employee status expires, he essentially declared mission accomplished: “I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by $1 trillion within that time frame.”
On Monday night, Trump told reporters that “at some point Elon’s gonna want to go back to his company,” adding: “He wants to. I’d keep him as long as I could keep him.”
“As the President said, this White House would love to keep Elon around for as long as possible,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said Tuesday as election results from Wisconsin rolled in. “Elon has been instrumental in executing the President’s agenda, and will continue this good work until the President says otherwise.”
But many close to Trump are increasingly relieved that Musk is expected to soon move on from his central role at Trump’s side and that the litany of DOGE surprises — which have ranged from a weekend email blast demanding federal workers list their work output to accidental cuts to Ebola prevention programs — might finally be coming to a close.
That’s to say nothing of their concerns about Musk as a political liability who has served as a rallying point for fractured Democrats.
I’ve known all along it was temporary. I guess “news” doesn’t pay attention...lol
In addition to exposing the treasonous amount of graft and corruption committed by Demonicrat administrations and the Deep State bureaucracies, Elon Musk and his team have also forced traitorous district justices to reveal themselves in efforts to stop Muck and President Trump from cleaning out the swamp. It will now be up to AG Blondi (or her replacement) and the DOJ to prosecute these traitors.
Federal judges are subject to impeachment, not prosecution.
Exactly. Voter ID initiative won big yesterday.
I was hoping for at least two years that Musk would lead the effort to reform the government. This is very disappointing.
He’s just started exposing all the graft and filthy corruption. Now he has to work with DOJ, Trump, other agencies, and some R Congressional people to get something done about it.
-PJ
Hopefully, the DOGE Team will keep on hunting and pouncing on government waste. Elon may not be managing them, but what they do is still a much needed service.
Nothing in the excerpt about DOGE. So who ends up being the face (and lightning rod) for the group of people who not named Elon Musk? I hope this does not get turned off or turned over to some Jeff Sessions type.
Musk is supposed to be on the job for around 135 days and then he leaves. The question/point should be: What happens to DOGE and who is in charge after Musk leaves?
Musk is supposed to be on the job for around 135 days and then he leaves. The question/point should be: What happens to DOGE and who is in charge after Musk leaves?
Exactly
This is no leak or drama within the party. This is simply demoralization propaganda by the enemy media, Politico, a name which in Algonquin means “These Who Stir Shite”
I wish we could have a separate planet from them. Sigh. White leftist women are the worst of the idiots.
Insert Musk meme: My work is done here...
PREMATURE, IMO.
“... from his current role as governing partner, ubiquitous cheerleader and Washington hatchet man.”
The first two definitions are correct. He’s is there to volunteer his time to finding the immoral and illegal use of government funds and properties by the federal government. He is very supportive of the POTUS and his efforts as is most of the people of the US as displayed in the election. But...he cannot be called a hachet man as he does not terminate anyone or anything. So that is a lie to make him look inappropriate. Additionally, by saying he is doing something wrong they are trying to mislead the public with lies. What ever happened to Jurnalistic intergrity? Obviously, Politico has none and they are rooting for the “robbing” of federal funds taken from the voters. We’re right back to if you can’t discredit the message, they will try to discredit the messenger. Musk deserves the medal of freedom. Politico deserves to be sued.
wy69
He sacrificed enough and we are grateful. I’m sure he will be on hand if he’s needed. Trump loves him so he has a permanent place at Mar a Lago.
He has to turn his attention back to his companies.
Of course, the Left will see this as, “See! Our pointless, idiotic, and destructive tactics worked!”
Going to be a LONG and STUPID 4 years thanks to the commies on the Left.
You're right, that's exactly how the Democrats are responding: Elon soon leaving DOGE, combined with Tesla sales dramatically plunging in the first quarter of 2025, as Tesla reported today.
Deranged Democrats had been excitedly predicting that Tesla would report a terrible sales decline this morning (which it did) and everyone has seen Gov. Tampon Tim Walz (D-MN) repeatedly saying in his public speeches that every morning, he greatly enjoys seeing the American automaker Tesla's stock further nosediving since Trump's election.
Using Tampon Tim Walz's own favorite word ... Deranged Democrats are "weird."
Federal judges are immune from civil lawsuits, but not criminal prosecution,
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