So long, Elon?

What with all the Rose Garden theatrics of “Liberation Day” and Donald Trump’s wild decision to tariff most of Planet Earth at once, Politico’s big “Musk will leave” scoop quickly sank down the news agenda. That’s partly because it wasn’t really a scoop at all. Elon Musk has said repeatedly that his role in the White House is only temporary. His status as a “special government employee,” which exempts him from some ethics and conflict-of-interest rules, is only meant to last 130 days and so his contract, such as it is, is likely to expire in late May or early June. Musk confirmed to Fox News last week that he was not in government for the long term while President Trump told reporters on Monday: “I think he’s amazing, but he’s got a big company to run… I’d keep him as long as I could keep him.”

The world is only too aware of how Musk’s business interests have struggled as a result of his not-quite-year-long dance with Trumpism. Tesla, his biggest company, reported a 13 percent drop in first-quarter sales yesterday, and Tesla dealerships have been firebombed by angry opponents of the new regime. Musk also suffered a political setback this week: Wisconsin voters elected a Democrat to the state’s Supreme Court on Tuesday night, despite the billionaire having thrown $25 million at the race.

Karoline Leavitt, the reliably punchy White House press secretary, called Politico’s reporting “garbage.” Yet journalists were quick to point out that the angle of the story was not necessarily that Musk was going, but that Trump had told his inner circle that Musk was going. Ever since Musk began parading himself as the President’s “First Buddy,” the media has eagerly anticipated a seemingly inevitable clash of these two great egos. Surely Trump cannot stand Musk getting so much attention?

It seems, however, that Trump’s ruefulness about Musk’s business woes and his probable departure is sincere. Trump’s admiration for any billionaire is obvious – and Musk is the biggest billionaire he knows. The pair appear to be in frequent contact and Trump is no doubt truly moved that Musk has been willing to burn masses of his worth to support the Make America Great Again agenda. Greater love hath no man…

Trump’s concern for Musk’s troubles explains last month’s amusing scene of the President TV-salesmaning Teslas outside the White House. He means it when he says, over and over, that Musk is a genius. The President is also clearly proud of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency’s drive to slash federal waste, fraud and misspending.

Trump’s cabinet, however, don’t quite share that fondness. Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, has – as the New York Times gleefully reported – clashed with Musk over DoGE’s merry slashing of State Department interests. And ever since the presidential transition, there has been grumbling in high Trump circles about Musk’s overweening power. The recording of Vice President J.D. Vance saying Musk is “making us look bad” turned out to be fake, but there’s little doubt that senior Trumpworld figures regard his politics as suspicious, particularly when it comes to his tech-bro enthusiasm for H-1B visas and elite human capital.

But if Musk is leaving government service, the question of what happens to Trump 2.0 in his absence becomes interesting. He will undoubtedly retain influence over the administration. He is, after Trump, the world’s most potent MAGA voice, thanks to his ownership of X and his 200 million followers on the platform. But his unspoken role as a lightning rod for international Trump-hatred will diminish. If he isn’t actually in the administration, some of that animosity will lose its sting. 

Musk in 2025 is in many ways what Trump was in 2017 – a man whose tweets can set the world on fire. Trump is less despised than he was in his first term, partly because a hostile media now casts Elon, not Donald, as the chief villain in the giant right-wing conspiracy to take over the world. Who might replace Musk as chief bogeyman of the liberal-left? Not for the first time, I’m betting on J.D. Vance.

The above is taken from Freddy Gray’s weekly Americano newsletter. To subscribe click here.