President Trump invited Tesla CEO Elon Musk to stay working at the White House for as long as he wants, after Musk said he would step back from his work at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to return to his companies.
“We just want to thank you very much. And, you know, you’re invited to stay as long as you want. At some point, he wants to get back home to his cars,” Trump said to applause for Musk from administration officials at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.
Musk is trying to do damage control at Tesla as the company faced a 71-percent plunge in first-quarter earnings. Musk told investors last week that he would soon spend less time with Trump and focus more on Tesla.
Musk’s special government status is set to end May 30.
“Great to work with you,” Musk said Wednesday, thanking the Cabinet.
Wearing a red “Gulf of America” hat stacked on top of a red DOGE hat when it was his turn to speak at the meeting, Musk quipped: “They say I wear a lot of hats.”
The president said Musk’s DOGE found $150 million in cuts to the federal government, adding that he thinks “things being worked on” could double or triple that number. Musk said in January that the “best-case outcome” would be to make $2 trillion in cuts to federal spending.
Trump on Wednesday also argued that Musk is popular among Americans while a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll earlier this week found that 57 percent of Americans surveyed disapproved “somewhat” or “strongly” in the way Musk is handling his role in the administration.
“You have been treated unfairly but the vast majority of people in this country really respect and appreciate you,” Trump said at the Cabinet meeting.
Tesla has been hit with a wave of vandalization, attacks and protests while Musk has been a close ally to Trump.
The Trump administration has supported Musk amid the backlash. Attorney General Pam Bondi deemed attacks on Tesla property as acts of “domestic terrorism,” and the FBI launched a special task force in response.
