Elon Musk’s inevitable fall from grace from Donald Trump’s “golden boy” to MAGA’s “Public Enemy No.1” has finally been confirmed with news that the South African tech mogul has quit the White House.
Musk known for his work with Tesla and SpaceX, revealed the news in a post on X — his own social media platform — on Wednesday.
He said: “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending. The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
An expert told the Express the bombshell move came after the billionaire entrepreneur’s political ambitions “blew up in his face” in his bid to create a “brave new world” in the US by cosying up to the Republican president’s MAGA supporters.
The world’s richest man Musk, who boasts an estimated personal fortune of around £340billion, spent 130 days embedded in Trump’s White House heading up the Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE also happens to be the name of a memecoin Musk is heavily involved in.
The President of the United States tasked Musk and DOGE with slashing federal spending in government departments across the US, but as Trump’s global tariffs policy hit the US economy – particularly its relationship with China – the relationship between the two men became strained.
That frustration came to a head this week with Musk’s resignation, coming just one day after he criticised President Trump’s latest legislation on government spending in a TV interview. While speaking to CBS, the tech mogul said he was “disappointed” by what the president calls his “big beautiful bill.”
“I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful,” Musk said. “But I don’t know if it could be both.”
Antony Glees, Emeritus Professor of Politics, Economics and International Studies at the University of Buckingham told The Express: “Just four months ago, Musk was Trump’s golden boy, and Trump was Musk’s absolute idol. Musk represented America’s future in a way which a 78 year old could never do.
“For Trump, Musk was to be the main driver of his political revolution who would use his energy and undoubted management skills to ruthlessly reshape America to chime with Trump’s MAGA dreams. Musk could never be president as he was born in South Africa. But he could be the architect of Trump’s brave new world.”
“But over the past month, Musk’s fortunes, both literally and politically, began to take a nose-dive. Today they have blown up in his face.
And his time in the White House may have cost Musk even more than public loss of face. Shares in Tesla, the electric vehicle firm he runs, have tanked since Trump took office. Meanwhile, the man himself was embroiled in a row when he appeared to issue a Nazi salute to Republican supporters after Donald Trump was confirmed to have won the US Election.
Prof Glees went on: “His slobbering support for Trump was costing him dear in his other big venture, Tesla. Sales in Europe virtually ground to a halt. Shares in Tesla have slumped by 37% since Musk seized the political limelight in Washington.
“Yet Trump, too, has been very madly mauled by this. We can expect him to be spending more time on the golf course and less time trying to break everything he touches.
“We have not forgotten that Hitler salute, or Musk stating that he was ‘not just MAGA but Dark MAGA’ an allusion to the far right on the dark web which shivers down all our spines. Now he’s just a very rich abject flop.
“Carney, Starmer and the King saw off his designs on Canada, the EU seems set to stay firm over trade and ordinary people may well find with Musk gone, the firework display will soon be over.”