Elon Musk uncermoniously leaves Trump adminstration

Controversial South African-born billionaire, Elon Musk, has left United States President Donald Trump’s administration.

Ahead of the US election last year, he quickly moved from funder to Trump’s close advisor, regularly appearing on the campaign trail.

Musk was rewarded with a 130-day mandate as a special employee with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

There he led a tumultuous drive to shrink the size of the government which saw federal agencies upended and thousands of jobs axed.

But, ultimately, Musk failed to deliver on the savings he said he could achieve.

While the billionaire’s role in the administration was a temporary, and therefore his exit expected, it comes a day after he criticised Trump’s tax and spending bill, the centrepiece of the president's agenda.

Musk described the so-called “big, beautiful bill” as a “disappointment” saying it was too expensive and would undermine his work at DOGE.

His departure was unceremonious. On Wednesday took to his social media platform X to thank Trump for his time in the administration.

He said he was ending his government work to spend more time on his companies, which include Tesla and SpaceX.

Musk’s political activities have been criticised with some of his investors calling for him to leave government to focus on managing Tesla, which has seen falls in sales and its stock price.

 A White House official, who requested anonymity, confirmed that the billionaire and CEO was leaving DOGE and said he remained on good terms with Trump.

Nevertheless, Musk’s exit comes after a gradual but steady slide in his standing within the administration, where he butted heads with several of Trump’s most senior cabinet members.