Musk wants everyone to believe that he is leaving politics

The Trump-Motorola Breakdown: Bringing Humans to Mars and Building Data Centers in Saudi Arabia, Revisited

Now, Musk is saying he’s had a change of heart. Musk announced on May 28th that he was stepping away from DOGE because his schedule as a Special Government employee came to an end. And in the days leading up to this update, Musk has held a flurry of interviews in which he’s tried to convince his audience that he’s done with politics.

A rift between Trump and Musk opened up with the Republican-backed “Big Beautiful Bill,” which Musk dubbed a “massive spending bill” that “increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing” in an interview with CBS. And in one more loss, Trump greenlit OpenAI’s plan to build data centers in Saudi Arabia, despite Musk’s attempts to “derail” the deal for not including xAI, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Arguably, the bigger issue is Musk’s shareholders getting nervous about his detachment from his companies, so as part of his alleged transition from government employee to just a regular billionaire, he’s started to reemphasize his commitment to his businesses.

Musk returned to Texas this week for the launch of a rocket without a hat. In interviews with Ars Technica, Musk talked up the company’s plans to bring humans to Mars and build a base on the Moon. Musk said that they should be going 1,000 times farther. “And if we are gonna go to the Moon, I think we should do a Moon base, or something that’s the next level beyond Apollo.”

Musk was interviewed by the Washington Post at SpaceX’s headquarters in Star Base, Texas, where he reiterated the company’s ambitions to get to Mars. “SpaceX is sort of ultra hardcore,” Musk told the outlet. “But if we’re not ultra hardcore, how are we going to get to Mars? It will not be possible to reach Mars in 40 hours a week.

Elon Musk departs DC with a black eye and a tattered reputation: The Dogefather of Transportation and Public Works

Even though they fell far short of Musk’s goal of $1 trillion of funding cuts, the group would be able to achieve it over time. Over $170 billion has been slashed, according to Musk, but experts believe the actual number is significantly lower. And DOGE’s legacy of firings and rehirings, its use of paid administrative leave, and the associated loss of productivity may have actually cost the government upwards of $135 billion, according to the Partnership for Public Service.

A transportation editor with more than 10 years of experience who covers EV, public transportation and aviation. His work was published in The New York Daily News and City & State.

Elon Musk appeared alongside President Trump for a press conference in the Oval Office Friday, perhaps for the last time, with a noticeable black eye that he says he got from his young son.

“This is not the end of DOGE, but really the beginning,” he said, wearing a t-shirt that said “The Dogefather”. The DOGE team is going to grow stronger over time. The DOGE influence will only grow stronger. I like the idea of Buddhism. It is like a way of life.

Source: Elon Musk departs DC with a black eye and a tattered reputation

Elon Musk, Golden Key, and Dark Energy: What Has Elon Learned about the Predictions of the Trump Era?

Trump presented Musk with a golden key after thanking him for his service, as well as having a vague introduction. He questioned if Musk would be off into the sunset for good.

The service Elon gave was incredible. He said that nobody like him. He had to go through the arrows and the sling, which is a shame.