Elon Musk hangs up his chainsaw to spend more time at Tesla

The world’s richest man has made his mark in the White House in his short stint, as many ponder for what he will be remembered.

David Charter

Elon Musk is leaving behind his special duties in Washington DC to again focus on his businesses. Picture: AP

2 min read

9:43AMMay 30, 2025

The enduring image of Elon Musk’s stint in government will be of the trench-coated billionaire in dark glasses waving a chainsaw on stage at the height of his cost-cutting blitz.

Musk seemed intoxicated with power as he brandished the gift from President Javier Milei of Argentina and shouted “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy”.

The world’s richest man was soon dismantling entire government agencies, notably the US Agency for International Development (USAID) which was reduced to a rump office inside the State Department with around 20,000 jobs cut.

But there were big cuts too in Musk’s ambitions – and frustration that the considerable criticism he took for leading President Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp” may ultimately have a negligible impact on net government borrowing if Republicans get their way with the “Big Beautiful Bill” of tax cuts also pledged by the president.

President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk, with his son X, speaks in the Oval Office at the White House in February. Picture: AP

“Don’t bring a chainsaw on stage and say to America, ‘We’re bringing the government under control’,” said Frank Luntz, a veteran pollster.

“It’s not a chainsaw they want. It’s a scalpel to do it cleanly, carefully and clearly.”

Instead of lengthy investigations followed by attempts to get cuts through a recalcitrant Congress, Trump let Musk rip from day one.

What had begun as an idea floated by the entrepreneur at a fundraising dinner for the Republican presidential campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy in September 2023 – to use technology to modernise and “gut” the federal bureaucracy – became reality with the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Elon Musk arrives on stage to speak at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington on January 20. Picture: AP

To Republicans he is a “hero of the republic”, in the words of Steve Hilton, the British-born candidate for governor in California.

“He did a huge amount to help President Trump get elected and … he’s done an enormous amount for all of us.”

To Democrats he is a symbol of all that is wrong with the norm-busting Trump administration, an unelected presidential chum who not only had too much power but one with glaring conflicts of interest whose companies received at least $US38 billion in government subsidies and contracts.

Musk’s vehicle business Tesla was targeted by firebombs and vandals keying cars as well as a global boycott by anti-Trump consumers.

He was a Special Government Employee and as such limited to 130 days of service that, if weekends and holidays are taken into account, ended the day after his announcement. But it is clear he was ready to leave.

Musk speaks at a cabinet meeting at the White House on April 30. Picture: AP

Tesla sales dropped by 13 per cent in the first three months of this year, the largest drop in its history. It fell to 95th in the Axios Harris Poll 100, a ranking of the “reputation of the companies most on the minds of Americans”, down from eighth in 2021.

But Musk has not gone away, far from it. President Ramaphosa of South Africa felt his influence when Trump showed videos he wrongly said were graves of white farmers that had first been posted on X by Musk.

His government service will not quickly be forgotten – not least by the 260,000 staff departing this year – but ultimately Musk himself withdrew after Republicans passed a bill that will add $US3.8 trillion to the deficit.

A supporter suggested on X that Musk was betrayed by both left and right, writing that “Trump brought in the smartest man on earth … the Left destroyed Elon for it … the GOP won’t vote on it.” Musk replied: “Did my best.”

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