Donald Trump has told his cabinet members that Elon Musk will be leaving his top US government role ‘soon’, according to sources.
Musk has been heading up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) taskforce since Trump returned to office in January. The billionaire mogul oversaw huge cuts to budgets across multiple departments and sweeping layoffs of federal employees.
As the Mirror reports, new reports have emerged of the Tesla chief’s imminent departure which follow tensions between Musk and other top appointments to Trump’s White House team, including one meeting where he is said to have clashed with the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
According to a trio of White House insiders speaking to Politico, Trump made it clear in private remarks that is ‘pleased’ with Musk’s efforts so far – but has told his team the DOGE chief will be ‘stepping back’ from his position ‘in the coming weeks’.
Trump’s wingmen are said to have become increasingly worried about the billionaire’s unpredictability and have begun to see him as a political liability, the sources alleged.
However, he is likely to maintain close ties to the White House, as one of the insiders speaking on condition of anonymity claimed that anyone who thought he would be cast out entirely would be “fooling themselves”.
Elon Musk spent around $277 million in support of the Republican president’s successful election campaign last year, having taken a more prominent role following the first unsuccessful assassination attempt on Trump last July.
It comes just hours before Donald Trump is expected to unveil huge tariffs on goods from across the world – raising fears of a trade war and a new global recession. Analysts believe he will impose border taxes of around 20-25% on practically all imported goods, which would hit UK exports to the tune of £22 billion.
The president and his allies have branded April 2 ‘Liberation Day’ and claim the new tariffs will boost American jobs, but economists have predicted that they will instead send prices soaring the US and across the world.