Today, after 130 days of work, Elon Musk is officially leaving his position as chief advisor to Trump and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). How these days went for the billionaire and what he is most remembered for as a special government official, writes UNN.
Details
With Musk's departure as advisor in the White House, a troubled period has ended, which was accompanied by mass layoffs, the closure of government agencies and numerous lawsuits. However, as observers note, the entrepreneur achieved significantly less than he originally planned, Associated Press notes.
At first, Musk set himself a grandiose goal - to reduce the federal government's expenses by $2 trillion, but later this figure had to be cut first to $1 trillion, and then to $150 billion. In the process, he increasingly expressed frustration with resistance to his goals.
According to the publication, Musk's attempts to reform the government have repeatedly caused conflicts with other influential figures in the Trump administration, who did not always share his vision of restructuring the state apparatus.
Musk has repeatedly stressed that his participation in government work is temporary. He recently made it clear that he intends to focus again on his companies - the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the aerospace project SpaceX.
As my planned term as a special government employee draws to a close, I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to cut wasteful spending. The DOGE mission will only intensify over time as it becomes a way of life in government
Public conflicts and record low rating
During his short but turbulent period in the White House, Elon Musk managed to make a lot of enemies. His proximity to Donald Trump caused sharp discontent among many high-ranking officials in the US presidential administration.
Immediately after Trump's victory in the election, Musk entered into a heated dispute with the president's legal advisor, Boris Epstein. The exchange of harsh words between Musk and Epstein occurred right during a dinner at Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago. The reason for the conflict was that Epstein insisted on appointing his people to key government positions, and Musk categorically did not accept this.
In March, Elon Musk was again at the center of the scandal - this time during a government meeting. He entered into a dispute with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, accusing him of reluctance to reduce spending and dismiss officials of the State Department. Rubio, in turn, sharply cut off, offering Musk to "dismiss and re-employ" 1,500 civil servants, just to demonstrate his own efficiency. In this quarrel, President Trump supported Rubio, not Musk.
Not a month passed when Musk got into another high-profile clash - this time with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. During a meeting at the White House, Musk called him "Soros's agent," which provoked mutual insults and screams. Their quarrel was heard even in the president's office.
Such scandals and mass layoffs of civil servants, carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency under the leadership of Musk, made him the most unpopular member of the presidential team. The results of the latest polls show that Elon Musk's anti-rating has reached 60%, demonstrating how sharply his support among Americans has fallen.
Statements regarding Ukraine
At the end of February 2025, Elon Musk stated that Zelenskyy cannot represent Ukraine without restoring freedom of the press and elections. He wrote about this in X, in response to Zelenskyy's words that President Trump is in a "disinformation environment."
The leaders of Germany, Britain, Finland and Norway spoke out in support of Ukraine and criticized such statements.
At the beginning of March, Musk stated the need to check all military aid allocated to Ukraine in order to find out "what actually happened to the hundreds of billions of dollars sent to Ukraine."
On March 3, Elon Musk stated that Zelenskyy is striving for a "perpetual war" and a "corrupt meat grinder." He claimed that the Ukrainian president chose bloodshed instead of peace with Moscow.
A day later, on March 4, a US presidential ally decided to offer Zelenskyy amnesty in exchange for peace and democracy.
On the 9th of this month, Musk stated that his Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army, without which the front will not stand. French operator Eutelsat volunteered to replace Starlink terminals in Ukraine with the support of the EU, but this would take a considerable amount of time. However, the billionaire later stated that despite his disagreement with US policy towards Kyiv, he will never disconnect Starlink for Ukraine.
A few days later, the owner of the social network X (Twitter), Elon Musk, stated that a large-scale cyberattack on the platform on Monday, March 10, may be related to Ukraine, namely to IP addresses located in the area of Ukraine.
Musk also publicly called on the United States to withdraw from NATO due to the disadvantage of financing the defense of Europe. The businessman supported Tampa's post on the social network X about the need for the immediate withdrawal of the United States from the Alliance.
Earlier, UNN wrote that against the background of the decision of American billionaire Elon Musk to step down as head of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a high-ranking official of the US presidential administration announced that he will continue to work as an unofficial advisor to the president and may potentially attend White House meetings in the future.