Billionaire Elon Musk, marking the end of his time as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency on Friday, vowed to remain a friend and adviser to President Trump and said the committee will continue its work without him.

“This is not the end of DOGE, but really the beginning,” Musk said from the Oval Office with Trump. “My time as a special government employee necessarily had to end, so that comes with a time limit, but the DOGE team will only grow stronger over time.”

While Musk initially promised his project could remove “at least $2 trillion” from the budget, he now says he believes DOGE could reduce waste and fraud by $1 trillion by next year. Some critics are dubious of Musk’s lofty claims, given the entirety of the non-defense discretionary budget is around $1.7 trillion.

Musk said the group has so far been responsible for uncovering $160 billion in waste.

“They’re going to continue doing an incredible job,” he said. “I’ll continue to be here and be a friend and adviser to the president.”

Asked about roadblocks DOGE has faced, Musk said the largest roadblock was the difficulty of the work of going through millions of line items to cut waste.

Trump praised Musk for his work with DOGE. 

“Elon has worked tirelessly helping lead the most sweeping and consequential government reform program in generations,” he said, calling the waste DOGE has uncovered “unbelievable.” 

Trump listed off several examples, including $101 million in diversity, equity, and inclusion contracts at the Department of Education; $59 million for illegal alien hotel rooms in New York City, $45 million for DEI scholarships in Burma; and $20 million for Arab Sesame Street.

“Elon’s service to America has been without comparison in modern history,” Trump said. 

Musk leaves his governmental role with a net favorability rating of -14 percentage points, according to tracking from pollster Nate Silver. At the beginning of the Trump administration, Musk had a net favorability rating of -5 percentage points.