Donald Trump Tells Allies That Elon Musk Will Step Back Soon: Reports

• President Trump has reportedly told senior White House officials that Elon Musk will soon be stepping back from his advisory role in the White House.
• Musk is currently on a 130-day contract as a “special government employee” in Trump’s administration.
• The transition comes at a turbulent time for Musk, both personally and professionally.

President Donald Trump has reportedly told those in his inner circle that Elon Musk will soon be stepping back from his advisory role in the government.

Politico and ABC News report that Trump insiders, including members of his Cabinet, have been advised that Musk will soon be shifting into a “supporting role” as he returns to his business ventures.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO is currently on a 130-day contract as a “special government employee” in Trump’s administration, leading the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts. Politico’s Rachel Bade reports that some White House insiders “increasingly view the billionaire as a political liability.”

Still, it seems that Trump allies have varying views about how Musk’s transition could go. While one senior administration official said Musk is likely to “retain an informal role” as a Trump adviser, another warned that opponents would be “fooling themselves” to believe his influence on the president will be significantly reduced.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed the significance of Musk’s transition in her latest post on X.

“This ‘scoop’ is garbage,” Leavitt insisted. “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.”

Musk later shared Leavitt’s post, saying, “Yeah, fake news.”

The transition comes at a turbulent time for Musk. On the business front, his Tesla Cybertrucks are being recalled, his SpaceX Starship recently exploded, Tesla’s stock prices have plummeted and damaged his net worth, and people continue launching protest attacks on Tesla dealerships.

The tech CEO has also faced a barrage of family drama, including being publicly criticized by his estranged daughter, his former partner Grimes, and another mother of one of his 14 known children.

Most recently, Musk’s unpopularity on the national stage became widely apparent when the conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate whom he poured millions of dollars into getting elected lost to a left-leaning judge by nearly 10 points on Tuesday, April 1.

All this after starting off his White House tenure by having to respond to Nazi allegations because of the headline-making hand gesture he threw up on Inauguration Day.

Musk’s role in the Trump White House has frequently been criticized by Democratic politicians and other opponents of the presidents.

On March 13, Connecticut Rep. John Larson had a heated exchange with his Republican colleagues on the House Ways and Means Committee, berating them for blocking Musk’s testimony on his loudly-touted Social Security cuts.

“Where is Elon Musk?” the 76-year-old demanded, gesturing toward empty chairs in the hearing room.

“I’m sure he’s a genius and is a very credible person because of the wealth he’s accumulated,” he continued. “But that does not put him above the law, or the responsibility to come before this committee and this Congress.”

Prior to the hearing, Larson filed a resolution to attempt to compel President Trump to provide details about his — and DOGE’s — plans for Social Security. That resolution was blocked by the Ways and Means Republicans.

“If he’s so great, if these plans and all the fraud and abuse that he’s found are so imminent, why isn’t he here explaining it?” Larson then shouted, addressing Musk’s absence. “You know why. Because he’s out to privatize Social Security.”