Is Musk really leaving US govt? Here is what Trump said at his farewell

US President Donald Trump bid farewell to the head of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and owner of Tesla, Elon Musk, from his government after the latter's tenure as Special Government Employee came to an end.

Also read: Musk era ‘not over’ in US govt, he will continue to be advisor: Vance

Trump presented Musk with a golden White House key as a symbolic representation of his service.

Always at President's service

While speaking at the conference, Trump said Musk has promised to ‘always be at the President’s service’, and that he had delivered a ‘colossal’ change in how the business is run in Washington.

He also seemed to be suggesting that Musk is ‘not really leaving’, saying that he would be going back and forth, keeping tabs on the workings of the government and the impact of DOGE on the spending over the next months.

Also read: Trump-Musk bromance, a rollercoaster of endorsements and policy shifts

Musk, sporting a black eye, which he said was the doing of his son X Æ A-Xii, and donning an all-black T-shirt with “The Dogefather” imprinted on it, said “I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job. They're going to continue to be doing an incredible job."

'Going back to run my companies'

Musk said further that he would be going back to running his business, including electric automaker Tesla, rocket company SpaceX, and social media platform X, which have seen conflicting times over the past year.

The end of Musk’s time in the government was on a cordial tone, in contrast to a tumultuous tenure for the billionaire entrepreneur in the department over the past months.

Scathing marks on government

During his tenure, he left blistering marks on the federal structure, including the firing of thousands of employees from different departments due to ‘wasteful spending’, as he said.

He also destroyed several government functions such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which provided a lifeline for impoverished people around the world.

Also read: Musk announces departure from US admin after slamming Trump's 'big beautiful bill'

But despite the upheaval, Musk also fell far short of his goals. After promising to cut USD 1 trillion or even USD 2 trillion in federal spending, he lowered expectations to only USD 150 billion in the current fiscal year.

Five points from the Trump-Musk conference

1. Not really leaving: Trump emphasised several times that Musk was "not really leaving", saying that he would be going "back and forth", providing "support" to the government whenever necessary.

2. DOGE to remain: Trump also asserted that many of the DOGE employees would remain with the administration, and further development on their employment with the government would be discussed.

3. Severe abuse: Musk was also praised by Trump for his bravery to come and work for the Trump administration despite "severe abuse, slander, lies and attacks".

Also read: Trump administration asks Supreme Court to let DOGE access Social Security systems

4. Several terminated contracts: The President went on to list several contracts that were terminated after the recommendation from DOGE. He said, "DOGE cancelled USD 101 million for DEI contracts at the Department of Education, USD 59 million for illegal alien hotel rooms in New York City, USD 45 million for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma, USD 42 million for social and behavioural change in Uganda, USD 40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of migrants, and USD 8 million for mice transgenders."

5. Beginning of DOGE: Musk emphasised the point that this was only the "beginning of DOGE", saying that while his time had ended, DOGE would ensure that over a trillion dollars of waste would be reduced.