Elon Musk was itching to get to work at his new US government department dedicated to slashing red tape and bureaucratic spending. As Donald Trump became president, Musk’s axe had already fallen on his first victim: Vivek Ramaswamy, his co-leader at the new Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

Mr Ramaswamy, the 39-year-old entrepreneur who made his fortune in biotech, was meant to be one of two bosses leading Doge.

By the end of Mr Trump’s inauguration on Monday, and after months of behind-the-scenes jockeying with Mr Musk for power and influence, he was effectively fired from the drive to slash bureaucracy and reduce government spending by trillions of dollars.

Details about their falling out have conveniently been leaked to multiple US media outlets, a first sign of friction within Mr Trump’s camp.

Now, Mr Musk is training his sights on a much larger power grab as he appears to be shaping Doge to infiltrate all parts of Donald Trump’s new administration, wielding unprecedented power for a private citizen.

The official line on the falling out with Mr Ramaswamy was that it would be impossible for him to work for the Doge agency and run to be governor of Ohio.

Anna Kelly, the Trump transition spokesman, said the run “requires him to remain outside of Doge based on the structure that we announced today”.