Elon Musk takes a backseat as Donald Trump reaches 100 days in office


Elon Musk takes a backseat as Donald Trump reaches 100 days in office

Published 29 April 2025 WASHINGTON ― Hours after President Donald Trump's inauguration, a triumphant Elon Musk took the stage at a Trump rally in Washington and boasted, "I'm going to work my ass off for you guys." He then let out a deep sigh and broke into laughter as he soaked in the enormous role he was about to hold: leading the administration's Department of Government Efficiency with a mission to gut the federal bureaucracy. "Man, I can't wait. This is going be fantastic," Musk said as he grinned ear to ear. But now, 100 days into Trump's second White House term, the Musk who once held up a chainsaw to display his power as a government slasher ‒ and became the most prominent face of the White House behind Trump ‒ has started to disappear. The richest man in the world is set to spend significantly less time with the Trump administration as he takes a backseat to the DOGE endeavor he launched. The fading of Musk from the White House comes after his companies, particularly Tesla, have suffered the consequences of his increasingly polarizing brand as the president of the United States' chief sidekick. Yet he also became a political liability for Trump, with his role already noticeably diminishing.