Who could have seen this one coming?
DOGE Days
Elon Musk still hasn’t publicly admitted that his days as the White House’s chief hatchet man are numbered — but behind the scenes, he’s apparently singing a different tune.
According to a source familiar with Musk’s thinking who spoke to the Washington Post on condition of anonymity, the unelected billionaire is ready to leave Donald Trump’s administration because he’s grown weary of “attacks” from the “left.”
The multi-hyphenate business owner believes, per WaPo‘s insider, that his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will continue to do its important “work” gutting federal agencies, and won’t be harmed by his exit. Whether or not that’s true remains to be seen, though as another anonymous insider told the newspaper, the “results speak for themselves.”
“No one can say DOGE has not achieved a historic amount of success,” said the senior White House official — conveniently ignoring the fact that Musk retreated from his promise to excise $2 trillion from the budget to a borderline-meaningless $150 billion.
Haterade
In the weeks since Politico reported that the president has been telling confidantes that Musk is on his way out — reporting that the White House called “garbage” and Musk slammed as “fake news” — there has been more indication than ever that the natalist billionaire has detractors in the Trump administration.
“Talking to the guy is sometimes like listening to really rusty nails on a chalkboard,” a senior official, who again was granted anonymity to speak freely, told Rolling Stone earlier this month. “He’s just the most irritating person I’ve ever had to deal with, and that is saying something.”
Not long after, Trump’s pick for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, publicly distanced himself from Musk when asked about his relationship with the fellow billionaire who once sent him into orbit on a SpaceX rocket.
“I want to absolutely be clear: My loyalty is to this nation, the space agency, and their world-changing mission,” Isaacman told the Senate during his confirmation hearing on April 9 when asked about Musk and SpaceX. “They’re the contractors, NASA is the customer. They work for us, not the other way around.”
Though the juvenile-minded owner of the everything app seems to insist that left-wingers are the ones bringing him down, it seems he doesn’t want to admit the obvious: that the call is coming inside the White House.
More on Musk: Elon Musk Cuts Funding for Internet Archive