CNN
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Elon Musk’s tone on politics has changed dramatically over the past couple weeks. Although he remained gracious and supportive in his farewell Oval Office event with President Donald Trump on Friday, Musk has recently ramped up his criticism of the president.
Gone is the “first buddy” chainsaw-brandishing crusader, set to save the country through the Department of Government Efficiency. In its place: An Elon Musk with a much more subdued tone, more willing to publicly disagree with the man who gave him his White House perch.
“It’s not like I agree with everything the administration does. I mean I agree with much of what the administration does, but we have differences of opinion,” he told CBS this week. “I’m a little stuck in a bind, where I’m like, well, I don’t wanna, you know, speak up against the administration, but I … also don’t wanna take responsibility for everything the administration’s doing. So I’m, like, kinda stuck, you know?”
Musk has been circumspect – admitting he “probably spent too much time on politics,” he told Ars Technica this week.
Musk now says he’ll spend “24/7” at his companies, sleeping on factory floors as he’s been known to do – although Trump said Friday that he’ll remain a good friend, gifting Musk a golden key to the White House.
“I expect to continue to provide advice whenever the president would like advice. I expect to remain a friend and adviser, and if there’s anything the president wants me to do, I’m at his service,” Musk said alongside Trump.
The departure was “music to the ears of Tesla shareholders with a crucial few months ahead,” Dan Ives, Managing Director at Wedbush Securities wrote in a memo on Friday. “While Trump mentioned that Musk will stay on as an advisor, we believe that Musk’s days in politics is essentially over after this experiment that clearly morphed into brand damage for Tesla and took on a life of its own.”
Musk seems to have learned Washington will not bend to his will like one his companies’ employees.
“He was going to get frustrated because he doesn’t own the federal government,” Musk biographer Walter Isaacson said on CNBC this week. “Focusing back on his companies again, he needed that.”
As he has stepped back from the White House, Musk has also drawn some lines in the sand with the Trump administration, telling CBS News he is disappointed in the GOP policy bill that raises the deficit and “undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”
It’s not the first time Musk has diverged from the Trump administration, having also expressed differences on issues like tariffs and visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
This week Musk has been more vocal on X, his social media platform, where he’s reposted criticism of how the “Big, Beautiful Bill” cuts electric and solar energy tax credits that directly affect Tesla’s businesses.
“Abruptly ending the energy tax credits would threaten America’s energy independence and the reliability of our grid,” a post from Tesla Energy said, which Musk re-posted.
One of the biggest questions hanging over Musk’s future in politics is whether he’ll invest anywhere near the hundreds of millions he plowed into electing Trump and other Republicans.
Although Musk has said he’ll spend “a lot less” on politics, Trump seemed to suggest on Friday he doesn’t think he’ll be able to stay away.
“Elon is really not leaving. He’s going to be back and forth, I think, I have a feeling – [DOGE is] his baby,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “Americans owes him a great debt of gratitude.”
