Trump tells close contacts Elon Musk will step back from government role, report says

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump has told members of his Cabinet and other close contacts that tech billionaire Elon Musk will soon step back from his cost-cutting government role, Politico reported on April 2, citing three people close to Mr Trump.

Mr Trump tasked the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive with leading efforts through his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) to

cut government funding and dismantle various US agencies

as a special government employee.

Politico reported that both Mr Trump and Mr Musk decided in recent days that the billionaire will soon return to his businesses, but gave no specific date.

Mr Musk and Doge did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report.

Shares of some companies, including government contracting companies, rose following the report.

Shares of Mr Musk’s Tesla, which were down 2 per cent in early trading after a

sharper-than-expected fall in first-quarter deliveries

, reversed course and were up about 5 per cent.

It was not immediately clear if Mr Musk would leave before his 130-day mandate is set to end in late May or early June.

A White House source told Reuters that Mr Musk’s investors want him to return to his companies, that his work with Doge would be done within 130 days, and that he had communicated that to the President multiple times.

Mr Musk was not leaving before his Doge work was done “and no one is pushing him out”, the source added.

Asked on March 31 if he wanted Mr Musk to stay beyond his 130-day term, Mr Trump told reporters: “I think he’s amazing, but I also think he’s got a big company to run. At some point, he’s going to be going back. He wants to.”

Mr Musk told Fox News last week that he was confident he would finish most of his work to cut US$1 trillion (S$1.3 trillion) in federal spending by the end of his 130 days.

His potential departure does not necessarily mean the end of Doge. The cost-cutting team’s mandate expires on July 4, 2026, under an executive order that Mr Trump signed on Jan 20.

There has been growing unease across the US over Mr Musk’s blunt approach to cutting tens of thousands of workers from the government workforce.

Republican lawmakers have faced the wrath of angry voters at unruly town halls, while many of Doge’s efforts have become the subject of lawsuits.

Tesla dealerships have been vandalised in the US and abroad, and a nationwide protest against Doge and Mr Trump’s agenda is planned for April 5.

On April 1, a

liberal judge in Wisconsin was elected

to the state Supreme Court, easily defeating a conservative judge whose campaign had been heavily bankrolled by Mr Musk and groups tied to him.

The vote had been seen as an early referendum on Mr Trump’s presidency and Mr Musk’s campaign to remake the US civil service. REUTERS