Featured Image Credit: Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty
The reign of 'President Musk' is over, as Elon Musk is officially stepping back from his role in American politics.
After supporting Donald Trump on the campaign trail and donating some $288 million to the 2024 election, he then found himself a cushy position as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Unfortunately for Elon Musk, his mission to cut some $2 trillion from the government spend saw him slashing thousands of jobs and becoming a figure of public vilification.
While he's known for his ventures like SpaceX and X, it's Musk's ties to Tesla that have caused the most controversy.
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The electric vehicle manufacturer has faced numerous negative press reports, calls for boycotts, and even incidents of violence at its dealerships.
The so-called 'First Buddy' announced that he'd be stepping back from politics, however, some thought it wouldn't actually happen.
Posting on X, Musk confirmed his departure as he wrote: "As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending. The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."
All of this comes after he suggested he was going to spend a lot less on politics moving forward, also hinting that his bromance with President Donald Trump could be on the rocks.
Given that special government employees can only work for 130 days a year, it wasn't exactly a surprise that Musk's time was coming to an end.
Still, there's plenty of controversy surrounding the legacy he'll leave behind and whether he's simply sided with the POTUS to smooth the path for his own business endeavours.
The timing has also been called into question, with Musk telling CBS Sunday Morning he was 'disappointed' in Trump's 'big beautiful bill'.
Arguing that Trump's plan "increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it," it's said that the deficit could increase by a jaw-dropping $600 billion in the next fiscal year.
Musk said that the bill "undermines the work that the Doge team is doing" and concluded: "I think a bill can be big or beautiful. I don't know if it can be both."
While Musk has vowed that the DOGE will continue, there are mixed feelings about the work he's done.
Although he's said to have saved around $160 billion that he branded as 'wasteful' government spending, that's come at the cost of 11 federal agencies and around 250,000 federal employees being put out of work in the process.
Musk's net worth has fluctuated during this period, but with him still being far and away the world's richest man, he seems ready to put the DOGE behind him and continue his endeavours to bring automated vehicles to our roads and reach for the stars to colonize Mars.
