Trump
tells inner circle that Musk will leave government cost-cutting role, reports
claim
Elon Musk is
expected to step down from his role in Trump’s government efficiency team, with
no official date set
Trump tells
inner circle that Musk will leave government cost-cutting role, reports claim
Wed, 02 Apr,
2025 - 17:41
Susan Heavey
and Akash Sriram, Reuters
https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-41605690.html
US president
Donald Trump has told members of his Cabinet and other close contacts that tech
billionaire Elon Musk will soon step back from his cost-cutting government
role, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing three people close to Trump.
Trump has
tasked the Tesla and SpaceX CEO with leading efforts through his Department of
Government Efficiency to cut government funding and dismantle various US
agencies as a special government employee.
Politico
reported that both Trump and Musk decided in recent days that Musk will soon
return to his businesses, but gave no specific date.
Musk and
DOGE did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report.
Shares of
some companies, including government contracting companies, rose following the
report.
Shares of
Musk's Tesla, which were down 2% in early trading after a sharper-than-expected
fall in first-quarter deliveries, reversed course and were up about 5%.
It was not
immediately clear if Musk would leave before his 130-day mandate is set to end
in late May or early June.
A White
House source told Reuters that Musk's investors want him to return to his
companies, that his work with DOGE would be done within 130 days, and that he
had communicated that to the president multiple times.
Musk was not
leaving before his DOGE work was done "and no one is pushing him
out," the source added.
Asked on
Monday if he wanted Musk to stay beyond his 130-day term, Trump told reporters:
"I think he's amazing, but I also think he's got a big company to run. At
some point, he's going to be going back. He wants to."
Musk told
Fox News last week that he was confident he would finish most of his work to
cut $1 trillion in federal spending by the end of his 130 days.
Musk's
potential departure does not necessarily mean the end of DOGE. The cost-cutting
team's mandate expires on July 4, 2026, under an executive order Trump signed
on January 20.
There has
been growing unease across the US over Musk's blunt approach to cutting tens of
thousands of workers from the government workforce.
Republican
lawmakers have faced the wrath of angry voters at unruly town halls while many
of DOGE's efforts have become the subject of lawsuits.
Tesla
dealerships have been vandalized in the US and abroad, and a nationwide protest
against DOGE and Trump's agenda is planned for this Saturday.
On Tuesday,
a liberal judge in Wisconsin won election to the state Supreme Court, easily
defeating a conservative judge whose campaign had been heavily bankrolled by
Musk and groups tied to him.
The vote had
been seen as an early referendum on Trump's presidency and Musk's campaign to
remake the US civil service.
Liberation
Day
It comes
just hours before Mr Trump is set to unveil new details of part of his economic
plan, including tariffs on multiple countries, as part of his so-called
"liberation day" at 9pm Irish time.
Although
exact details have yet to be revealed, Mr Trump has previously entertained the
idea of reciprocal tariffs in which the US would reciprocate the tariffs that
other countries have levied on US exports.
Countries
that Mr Trump has mentioned which would be on the receiving end of reciprocal
tariffs include China, Brazil and India, and the European Union.
Also on the
table is 25% tariffs on all imports coming into the US from Canada and Mexico.
Mr Trump has
already announced an additional 20% tariff on all Chinese imports and a 25%
tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. There is also a 10% tariff on energy
imports from Canada.
- additional reporting from The Guardian
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário