The White House confirmed that Elon Musk will leave the Trump administration in the coming months, once his "incredible work with DOGE is complete."
Musk's cost-cutting work with DOGE has been at the center of controversy during the early months of Trump's second term. Democrats have attacked Musk repeatedly, while accusing Trump of empowering a shadowy "oligarchy" that caters to the super rich.
In fact, Musk's company, Tesla, has suffered from the backlash to his government role.
Both Trump and Musk have said that the Tesla CEO will step down in the near future, when DOGE's work is finished. Musk is a "special government employee," a status that is limited to 130 days.
The president's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, dismissed a report from Politico that said Musk is considered a "liability" within the Trump administration.
"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," Leavitt said.
Musk added, "Yeah, fake news."
Musk previously told Fox News' Brett Baier that 130 days was enough for him to finish his job.
"I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by $1 trillion within that time frame," he said.
Trump expressed regret this week as he acknowledged the coming end of Musk's tenure.
"Well, I think he's … amazing. But I also think he's got a big company to run. And so, at some point he's going to be going back. He wants to," Trump said earlier this week.
"I'd keep him as long as I can keep him," Trump said. "He's a very talented guy. You know, I love very smart people. He's very smart. And he's done a good job," the president added. "DOGE is, we've found numbers that nobody can even believe."
While Musk is soon going to be leaving his government position, Vice president J.D. Vance says the critical work of DOGE will continue - and Musk will remain a "friend and adviser" to the Trump team.
“The work of DOGE is not even close to done. The work of Elon is not even close to done,” Vance told Fox and Friends. “DOGE has got a lot of work to do … that work is going to continue after Elon leaves."
