Donald Trump announces Elon Musk will not have a desk in the White House
Musk might not quite have the role in government that some expected
President Donald Trump has announced that Elon Musk won't have a desk in the White House despite his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Elon Musk has remained close to President Donald Trump's side after being invited to one of his election campaign rallies - so much so that Musk's own mother has commented on the pair's 'unique relationship'.
This has not only led to an increased level of political influence for Musk, which he has used to try and halt key bipartisan bills and start international conflict on social media, but he has also been rewarded with a role at the head of the new Department of Government Efficiency, otherwise known as 'DOGE'.
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DOGE is a private advisory board led by Musk (with fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy previously attached before quitting recently) which aims to make significant cuts to federal spending in order to 'make America more efficient' and tackle the 'unsustainable' level of debt.
Through this Musk has a significant level of power within US politics as he has effectively been given the freedom to cut whatever he pleases, which many have expressed worries that it'll allegedly be used for his own personal gain.
It might surprise you then to find out that Elon Musk, according to a recent statement from the President, won't have his own desk in the West Wing of the White House.
Trump outlined, as reported by the New York Post: "He's getting an office for about 20 people that we're hiring to make sure these [executive orders] get implemented."
Currently, hired employees of DOGE have been working out of the SpaceX Washington offices, but this would move most into the Eisenhower Executive Office Building which is quite a distance from the Oval Office.
It's likely no coincidence that this comes shortly after Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency has faced multiple lawsuits, with the primary focus being the agency's current inability to follow appropriate legal requirements, including the transparency of meetings and maintaining 'fairly balanced' representation.
Musk himself has taken to X to joke about these lawsuits implying that he's not taking them too seriously, but if he were to comply or alternatively become an official government employee then that could open him up to significant scrutiny.
Not only would be have to comply with strict ethics considerations which would likely clash with his other business interests - which have benefitted from government subsidies and regulation changes - but he would also have to disclose specific financial information that he'd likely want to avoid.
He will avoid this though if he doesn't take a wage from the role, which he currently isn't, and having at least some DOGE employees become part of the government would circumvent much of the need to follow regulations of a private advisory board.
Despite the distance between the Oval Office and DOGE HQ within the White House, we'd still expect to see Elon remain a close ally in both politics and proximity.