Tesla CEO and anti-bureaucracy warrior Elon Musk is taking a victory lap — and then heading back to the driver’s seat of his company.
On Tuesday, Musk told investors he’s winding down his work at the Trump-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the anti-waste, anti-fraud unit shaking up Washington like never before. After helping President Trump launch DOGE and send D.C. elites into full-blown panic mode, Musk now says his time in government will “drop considerably” starting next month.
The timing is no coincidence. Tesla just posted a brutal earnings report — a 71% drop in profits and a 9.4% drop in revenue year-over-year — amid rising tariffs and full-throttle political sabotage from the anti-Trump resistance. But instead of retreating, Musk made it clear he’s not going anywhere and is only stepping back from government work because the hardest part of draining the swamp is already done.
“The major work of establishing DOGE is done,” Musk said. “Now I’ll be returning to Tesla full-time — and making sure the waste and fraud we stopped doesn’t come roaring back.”
Translation: mission accomplished, for now.
Musk’s brief but bombshell stint in the Trump administration turned Washington inside out. Bureaucrats, left-wing politicians, and the media mob all lost their minds as Musk exposed billions in government waste, rolled back ESG grift programs, and dared to challenge the sacred cows of the federal leviathan.
And the backlash has been vicious. Tesla dealerships and Supercharger stations have been targeted in arson attacks and vandalism. Protests — some violent — have erupted across the country, all aimed at punishing Musk for trying to stop the gravy train.
But the billionaire-turned-political-assassin isn’t backing down. “Those who were receiving the wasteful and fraudulent dollars are now attacking me, DOGE, and everything associated with me,” Musk told investors. “That’s how you know we’re making a difference.”
Despite the political chaos, Tesla still raked in $409 million in net income on $19.3 billion in revenue in Q1 — and took in $595 million from other automakers desperate to buy carbon credits to stay compliant. But the real hit came from a 13% plunge in vehicle deliveries and a 20% drop in core automotive revenue. Musk pointed to “uncertainty in trade policy” and the Trump tariffs on foreign auto imports, but he didn’t blink.
The bigger battle, he explained, is ideological.
“This is a very expensive job,” Musk said at a town hall in Green Bay last month, referencing his DOGE work. “They’re trying to put massive pressure on me, on Tesla, on everything — just to get me to stop exposing the waste.”
And it’s taken a toll. Tesla stock has dropped more than 37% since the start of 2025. Musk says the swamp and its activist allies are behind it. “Tesla stock, and the stock of everyone who holds Tesla, has been cut in half. It’s a big deal.”
But even as Musk steps back from his government role — a temporary one, according to President Trump — his impact is undeniable. DOGE exposed the rot. The Trump administration stopped water giveaways to Mexico, clamped down on foreign visa fraud, slashed diversity bloat, and rolled out the most aggressive federal efficiency campaign in decades — all with Musk’s fingerprints on it.
Democrats may hate him. The globalist media may mock him. But Musk, like Trump, gets results. And come May, he’ll be back full-throttle at Tesla, with a stronger-than-ever White House behind him.
