President Donald Trump said that presidential special adviser Elon Musk is likely to leave the administration in “a few months.”
In response to questions about when Musk could leave, Trump told reporters on Air Force One Thursday that “Elon is fantastic” but he has “a number of companies to run.” Musk is a special government employee, meaning he has to leave 130 days after he assumes the position.
“I want him to stay as long as possible,” he said. “There’s going to be a point where he’s going to have to leave.”
Musk joined the government as Trump in January created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) through an executive order. Since then, DOGE has gone from agency to agency to look into what it calls fraud, abuse, and waste. Its work has been stymied by multiple federal judges in recent days.
Other than court rulings against DOGE, Musk faced a setback Tuesday in Wisconsin, where voters rejected a state Supreme Court candidate he endorsed after he spent more than $21 million in personal donations and his campaign appearance over the weekend.
The billionaire entrepreneur’s electric automaker Tesla also saw a 13 percent drop in sales in the first three months of the year.
Musk separately told Bret Baier of Fox News on March 27 that DOGE is on track to achieve its goal before his term as a special government employee is up.
“I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame,” he said.
Aside from Trump’s comments, Vice President JD Vance said that Musk will continue to provide them advice after leaving the government.
“DOGE has got a lot of work to do, and yeah, that work is going to continue after Elon leaves. But fundamentally, Elon is going to remain a friend and an adviser of both me and the president,” Vance told Fox News in an interview Thursday.
Politico and other media outlets, citing unnamed sources, reported Wednesday that Trump had told members of his Cabinet that Musk will soon depart and return to the private sector.
“Elon Musk and President Trump have both *publicly* stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete,” Leavitt wrote in a post on social media platform X.
The White House has not disclosed any clear timeline for closing down DOGE. The government cost-cutting organization was never intended to become a permanent fixture in Washington. It was originally intended to operate until July 4, 2026.
DOGE was initially envisioned as an independent advisory panel, with Musk sharing leadership with Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur. Ramaswamy, a Republican, dropped out and is running for Ohio governor, and DOGE became part of the government.
