Topics: Elon Musk, US News, Donald Trump, Politics
Donald Trump's loyal compadre Elon Musk has officially responded to rumours that he'll 'soon' be 'stepping back' from his role as Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-lead.
The President himself is said to have kickstarted the speculation earlier this week, allegedly having told cabinet members that the tech boss will depart from the position in the 'coming weeks'.
White House sources told Politico that, though 78-year-old Trump is 'pleased' with Musk's recent work, he'd made plans for the Tesla CEO to move into a 'supporting role' instead.
The supposed move comes in line with Musk, 53, returning to his numerous existing businesses.
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The father-of-13 has attained the DOGE position since Trump's second inauguration in January, after supporting the Republican leader throughout the duration of his campaign.
The role gives South African-born Musk the responsibility of making cuts to federal spending, a task that saw him previously accused of planning a 'hostile takeover' of the United States government.
Appearing in the White House in February, Musk described these cuts as 'common sense' measures, and insisted they are 'not draconian or radical'. In the same speech, he described federal workers as 'unelected, fourth, unconstitutional branch of government', that he claimed had 'more power than any elected representative'.
In response to the allegations that he'll soon be moved away from the role, however, Musk has since issued a damning three-word statement.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) yesterday (2 Apr), he replied to a tweet posted by White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, which read: "This 'scoop' is garbage."
Leavitt had added to her original post: "Elon Musk and President Trump have both *publicly* stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete."
Musk then himself replied to the tweet, simply penning: "Yeah, fake news."
The official White House stance is that Musk is a 'Special Government Employee' serving on a temporary basis.
It's also alleged that he won't be paid for the position.
Prior to recent speculation, it seemed as though Trump couldn't be happier with this colleague's controversial progress.
In a speech made recently, the father-of-five praised the SpaceX front-man: "I have created the brand new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, perhaps you've heard of it. Which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight.
"Thank you, Elon. He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need this. Thank you very much, we appreciate it. Everybody here — even this side appreciates it, I believe.
"They just don’t want to admit that. Just listen to some of the appalling waste we have already identified."
Under some of the changes made by Musk since Trump's controversial re-election following his victory against Democratic representative Kamala Harris, a number of federal workers have lost their jobs, leading to protests and uproar among employees.
Several plaintiffs have since challenged Musk's dismissal of some federal workers.
One recent court filing read: "Like other senior White House advisors, Mr Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself."
