WASHINGTON — Elon Musk left the White House for the last time as a special government employee Friday, telling reporters “my time had to end” — but insisting the Department of Government Efficiency he inspired will live on.
“I’ll continue to be visiting here, and be a friend and an adviser to the president,” Musk, 53, said alongside President Trump in the Oval Office, sporting a black eye that he claimed was the product of a well-placed punch from his five-year-old son, X.
The South Africa-born entrepreneur also vowed “to support the DOGE team [as] we are relentlessly pursuing a trillion dollars in waste and fraud reduction that will benefit the American taxpayer.”
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO had appeared increasingly jaded as he approached the end of his 130-day tenure, telling CBS News in an interview this week he was “disappointed” with Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act — his first public break with the president.
But Musk was in a more bullish mood Friday, reaffirming that “I’m confident that over time, we’ll see a trillion dollars of savings — a trillion dollars of waste and fraud reductions.”
“The DOGE influence will only grow stronger,” he predicted. “I liken it to a sort of Buddhism, it’s like a way of life. It is permeating throughout the government.”
The department’s own website currently claims that DOGE has trimmed just $175 billion in government fat — and even that total has been questioned.
However, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has pledged to move ahead with making the DOGE cuts permanent when lawmakers begin the regular appropriations process in September for fiscal year 2026 — while press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed Thursday that Trump and his cabinet members will oversee the department’s ongoing work.
“Almost all of those people are staying,” Trump said of Musk’s DOGE team, which is largely made up of young engineers.
“It will be really interesting to see what the final number is going to be,” the president added, predicting that the savings could add up to “hundreds of billions” while promising to make cuts “very surgically.”
Musk endorsed Trump after the Republican narrowly survived an assassination attempt during a July 13, 2024, campaign rally in Butler, Pa., and quickly became one of the president’s closest confidants — listening in on calls with foreign leaders, spending time with the first family, and sitting in on critical meetings.
The billionaire was entrusted to gut the government of “fraud and waste” by eliminating unwanted programs, causing controversy due to his status as an unelected official who was not subject to Senate confirmation.
Protests broke out across the country over Musk pulling the plug on organizations like the US Agency for International Development — whose key functions were transferred to the State Department — and masterminding layoffs of thousands of workers at agencies including the Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services.
The president stood behind Musk throughout his government tenure, publicly buying a Tesla on the White House driveway in March and threatening left-wingers who vandalized the electric vehicles with up to 20 years in prison.
“He’s one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced,” Trump said Friday of his right-hand man.
“Elon has worked tirelessly to lead the most sweeping and consequential government reform program in generations.”
Musk has reaffirmed his commitment to Tesla, recently telling investors in Qatar he expects to remain as CEO for at least the next five years.