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Elon Musk says he'll pull back from his work in the Trump administration to focus on running his electric car business, Tesla. For the last few months, Musk has had massive access and power within the White House. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reports on the relationship that was mutually beneficial until things got complicated.
DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: On election night, Donald Trump gave special attention to one of his biggest supporters.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh, let me tell you, we have a new star. A star is born - Elon.
KURTZLEBEN: Their political courtship was only a few months old. Musk endorsed Trump shortly after the July assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. Musk later explained his attraction at another Trump rally in Butler in October.
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ELON MUSK: We had one president who couldn't climb a flight of stairs...
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MUSK: ...And another who was fist pumping after getting shot.
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MUSK: Fight, fight, fight - blood coming down the face.
KURTZLEBEN: Musk would go on to spend a quarter of a billion dollars supporting Trump and other Republicans in the 2024 election. By the time Musk took the stage at Trump's October Madison Square Garden rally, Trump had already said Musk would lead a project they called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Howard Lutnick, who is now commerce secretary, introduced Musk.
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HOWARD LUTNICK: How much do you think we can rip out of this wasted $6.5 trillion Harris-Biden budget?
MUSK: Well, I think we can do at least 2 trillion.
LUTNICK: Yeah.
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KURTZLEBEN: Musk brought a chaotic energy to his new political role. He grabbed headlines when he twice made a straight-armed gesture that resembled a Nazi salute at Trump's inauguration. Musk denied that, then joked about it on social media. Once Trump took office, Musk was everywhere - riding on Air Force One and taking questions with the president in the Oval Office, once with his 4-year-old son in tow. Trump was generous with Musk, constantly praising him and letting him speak at length, even at cabinet meetings. At the first one, Trump jokingly chided Musk at one point.
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TRUMP: Hey, Elon - let the cabinet speak just for a second.
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KURTZLEBEN: At DOGE, Musk had almost unrestricted ability to look at the details of agencies that oversaw his businesses - companies that do a lot of work for the federal government. He gleefully set to work reshaping the bureaucracy he railed against as a businessman, even brandishing a chainsaw on stage at a conservative conference earlier this year.
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MUSK: This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy - chainsaw.
KURTZLEBEN: Under Musk, DOGE has effectively dismantled some agencies and left others reeling after slashing tens of thousands of jobs. But big savings have been hard to find. On the campaign trail, Musk had said he was shooting for $2 trillion. But by a cabinet meeting earlier this month, the goal was much smaller.
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MUSK: I'm excited to announce that we anticipate savings in FY26 from reduction of waste and fraud by $150 billion.
KURTZLEBEN: Courts have halted many of DOGE's actions, including attempts to obtain access to sensitive data. By spring, Trump was saying that cabinet members would be taking more of the lead and making decisions about their agencies.
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TRUMP: Hundreds of billions of dollars of waste and fraud and abuse has been found - already found. And that doesn't mean they don't have a little bit of an argument here and there about something or maybe personnel arguments.
KURTZLEBEN: There were also signs that Musk was becoming a political liability. He spent and campaigned heavily for the conservative in a Wisconsin Supreme Court election in April, who then lost. Meanwhile, widespread Tesla takedown protests were happening at dealerships nationwide.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Oh, oh, Elon Musk has got to go.
KURTZLEBEN: Musk openly disagreed with Trump's tariff policy, at one point calling trade adviser Peter Navarro dumber than a sack of bricks. Musk's job at DOGE was always supposed to be a temporary assignment. Recently, Trump has been vague about Musk's future, but complimentary as always.
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TRUMP: 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.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Would you want to keep him around?
TRUMP: But - oh, I'd keep him as long as I could keep him. He's a very talented guy.
KURTZLEBEN: This week, Tesla reported dismal earnings, and Musk announced to shareholders that he would be paring back his role at DOGE. The White House has not responded to NPR's questions about how much Musk will be scaling back. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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