Elon Musk has formally left his role in Donald Trump’s administration.
Mr Trump confirmed the expected departure at a news conference on Friday, where he thanked Mr Musk “for his incredible service” with his work for the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and suggested he would continue to be “back and forth”.
Mr Trump also handed Mr Musk a golden key in a White House-branded box, which he described as a “special present”.
“Elon gave an incredible service. [There is] nobody like him. And he had to go through the slings and the arrows, which is a shame, because he is an incredible patriot,” Mr Trump said of the tech billionaire.
Meanwhile, Mr Musk said it was “not the end of DOGE, but the beginning” and that the DOGE team would “only grow stronger”.
He also said he would continue to visit the White House and would still be an adviser to Mr Trump.
Mr Musk was handed the task of cutting government spending by sacking federal workers and eliminating bureaucratic waste as head of the newly formed DOGE department.
The billionaire owner of Tesla, SpaceX, and X oversaw drastic cuts to America’s humanitarian efforts, leading to criticism that the US was relinquishing some of its global influence.
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Despite promising to save taxpayers as much as $2trn (£1.5trn), DOGE currently estimates its efforts have saved $175bn (£130bn).
Mr Musk even said the savings could run even higher, saying in the Oval Office: “We do expect over time the trillion dollars in savings. Say by the middle of next year, with presidential support, we can do it.”
But questions have also been raised about whether the department has actually saved taxpayers as much money as suggested.
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In a post on X on Thursday, Mr Trump said “he [Musk] will, always, be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific!”.
The 53-year-old – who famously brought his son X Æ A-12 to the Oval Office – has expressed frustration about resistance to his ideas, and clashed with other senior members of the Trump administration.
But speaking to Gillian Joseph on The World earlier this week, Musk’s father, Errol Musk insisted there was “no rift between Elon and Donald Trump”.
Elon Musk carries X Æ A-12 on his shoulders in the Oval Office. File pic: Reuters
As a “special government employee”, US law allowed him to serve for 130 days, which would have ended around Friday.
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The moment took place before his interview with Rob Schmitt in front of the Republican crowd.
He announced he was leaving in a post on X, in which he said: “I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending.”
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