U.S. President Donald Trump on May 29 announced he would be hosting a press conference with tech billionaire and close friend Elon Musk this Friday, May 30, at 1:30 p.m. EST (5:30 p.m. GMT / 11:30 p.m. IST) in the Oval Office.
This is a day after Musk announced that he was resigning from his position as leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a position he had conceived and led. Musk's time as a 'special government employee' is also slated to come to an end.
This is his final day, but not truly, because he will, always, remain with us, assisting on through. Elon is wonderful!" Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media site.
On May 28, Musk tweeted on his platform X announcing that he was resigning from his formal White House role. The tweet was just a day after he had condemned the expense of Republican tax and budget bills that are going through Congress.
Interviewing The Washington Post on May 27 before a SpaceX launch, Musk expressed his frustration with the criticism DOGE received: "DOGE is simply becoming the whipping boy for everything. Whenever anything goes wrong anywhere, we get blamed even if we have nothing to do with it," he explained.
The news provoked a positive reaction from investors — Tesla shares increased by 2%. The electric vehicle giant has been subject to sustained market pressure in Europe and the U.S., in part because of Musk's provocative role in slashing federal spending, presiding over mass redundancies, and joining forces with Trump and far-right European parties.
Musk recently informed journalists he was planning to cut down on his political spending, that he had "done enough." The tech mogul entrepreneur had invested reportedly $300 million in Donald Trump's 2024 campaign and other Republican candidates last year.
Under Musk's leadership, DOGE became known for ushering in broad reforms throughout the federal government, such as large department shutdowns, wholesale layoffs, and widespread court challenges, an Associated Press report said. Despite the upheaval, the report added, the department accomplished fewer concrete accomplishments than Musk might have expected.
The same report mentioned that Musk struggled hard to adapt to the inner dynamics of Washington and grew more disillusioned by institutional opposition. Gradually, his ambitious spending cut targets were reduced drastically—from $2 trillion to $1 trillion and then down to $150 billion.
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