Elon Musk has announced he will scale back his involvement with Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) starting next month, as Tesla faces mounting financial pressures and disappointing quarterly results.
The 53-year-old billionaire, who has split time between running Tesla and working with Trump’s administration, said his government duties will “drop significantly” from May. Instead, he will focus more intensely on the electric vehicle company, whose profits have plummeted amid declining sales and global trade tensions.
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“I will continue to spend a day or two per week on government issues for as long as the president would like me to do so,” Musk said, signaling a shift in priorities after a turbulent financial quarter. Tesla’s profits fell a staggering 71% to $409 million (£308 million) in the first three months of 2025, while revenue dropped 9% to $19.3 billion, falling short of Wall Street expectations, according to Sky News.
Much of the downturn has been blamed on Trump’s tariffs, which have intensified a global trade war and heightened competition, particularly from Chinese EV giant BYD. Tesla shares have declined more than 40% since the beginning of the year, though they rose slightly in after-hours trading following Musk’s announcement. Investor anxiety over Musk’s divided attention between Tesla and his political ventures has been a growing concern.
Ahead of a key investor call on Tuesday, questions about his CEO role were among the most common on the company’s shareholder Q&A platform. Musk joined the Trump administration after spending nearly $300 million (£226 million) supporting the former president’s successful 2024 re-election campaign. He later launched DOGE, an initiative aimed at cutting federal jobs and government spending.
DOGE claims to have saved $160 billion (£120 billion), though critics have questioned the accuracy of those figures. The department’s website, last updated on Sunday, quietly removed some of the largest alleged savings after public scrutiny.
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Meanwhile, Tesla has become entangled in political controversy due to Musk’s prominent role in DOGE. Critics on the left have accused Musk of aligning too closely with the Trump administration, leading to boycott calls against Tesla.
In response, Trump himself defended Musk in a passionate post on X.. “To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!” Trump wrote. The former president even pledged personal support, stating: “I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American.”
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