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Five ways the world's richest man changed the White House

2025-05-30 10:48:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Elon Musk's time in the Trump administration is coming to an end after a tumultuous 129 days, during which the world's richest man slashed government spending, sparking numerous controversies along the way.

Earlier this week, the South African-born billionaire, on his social media platform, X, thanked President Trump for his time at the Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge.

Trump announced that he would hold a press conference in the Oval Office on Friday with Musk, writing: "This will be his last day, but not really, because he will always be with us, helping us all the time."

While Musk's time in government lasted a little over four months, his work with Doge subverted the federal government and had an impact not only in the corridors of power in Washington, but around the world.

Let's take a look at some of the ways Musk has left his mark.

Doge's chainsaw to federal spending

Musk accepted a job in the Trump White House with a mission: to cut government spending as much as possible.

It started with an initial target of "at least $2 trillion," which was then moved to $1 trillion and ultimately to $150 billion.

To date, Doge claims to have saved $175 billion through a combination of asset sales, lease and grant cancellations, "fraud and improper payment write-offs," regulatory savings, and a reduction of 260,000 people from the federal workforce of 2.3 million.

However, a BBC analysis of these figures found that evidence is sometimes lacking.

This mission has occasionally caused chaos and controversy, including several cases in which federal judges halted mass layoffs and ordered employees to be reinstated.

In other cases, the administration has been forced to back down from dismissals.

In a notable case in February, the administration halted the firing of hundreds of federal employees working at the National Nuclear Security Administration, including some with sensitive jobs related to the US nuclear arsenal.

Musk himself repeatedly acknowledged that mass layoffs would inevitably involve mistakes.

"We will make mistakes," he said in February, after his department confused a region of Mozambique with Hamas-controlled Gaza while cutting off an aid program. "But we will act quickly to correct any mistakes."

Doge's efforts to access data also sparked controversy, particularly the department's push for access to sensitive Treasury Department systems that control the private information of millions of Americans.

Polls show that cuts to government spending remain popular with many Americans — even if Musk's personal popularity has waned. Blurred lines between business and politics

The presence of Musk - an unelected "special government employee" with companies that count the US government as clients - in the Trump White House has also raised suspicions, prompting questions about potential conflicts of interest.

His corporate empire includes large companies that do business with U.S. and foreign governments. SpaceX has $22 billion in U.S. government contracts, according to the company's CEO.

Some Democrats also accused Musk of using his position to grow business abroad for his satellite internet services firm, Starlink.

The White House was accused of helping Musk's businesses by displaying vehicles made by Tesla - his struggling car company - on the White House lawn in March.

Both Musk and Trump have rejected any suggestion that his work with the government is conflicting or ethically problematic.

A push for American isolationism?

Five ways the world's richest man changed the White House

Around the world, Musk's work with Doge was felt more strongly as the vast majority — over 80% — of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs were eliminated after a six-week review by Doge. The rest were taken over by the State Department.

The cuts led by Musk and Doge were part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to bring overseas spending in line with its "America First" approach.

The cuts to the agency - tasked with work such as hunger detection, vaccinations and food aid in conflict zones - quickly had an impact on projects including communal kitchens in war-torn Sudan, scholarships for young Afghan women fleeing the Taliban and clinics for transgender people in India.

USAID was also a crucial instrument of US "soft power" around the world, leading some critics to point to its elimination as a sign of the fading of American influence on the global stage.

Conspiracies and disinformation

While Musk and Trump have been accused for years by critics of spreading unfounded conspiracy theories, Musk's presence in the White House clearly highlighted how misinformation has entered the discourse at the highest levels of the US government.

For example, Musk spread an unsubstantiated theory online that the U.S. gold reserves had been quietly stolen from Fort Knox in Kentucky. At one point, he floated the idea of ??live-streaming a visit there to make sure the gold was safe.

Fact Check: Trump's Oval Office Confrontation with Ramaphosa

Recently, Musk spread widely discredited rumors that the white African population of South Africa is facing "genocide" in their country of origin.

These rumors spread to the Oval Office in early May, when a meeting aimed at easing tensions between the US and South Africa took a drastic turn after Trump presented South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with videos and articles that he said were evidence of crimes against Africans.

Discord within Trump's camp revealed

Musk's work in government also showed that, despite public promises of unity, there are tensions within the "Trump 2.0" administration.

While Trump publicly — and repeatedly — supported Musk and Doge's work, Musk's tenure was marked by reports of tensions between him and cabinet members, who felt Doge's staffing cuts were affecting their agencies.

"They have a lot of respect for Elon and the fact that he's doing this, and some of them disagree a little bit," Trump admitted at a cabinet meeting in February. "If they don't, I want them to talk."

At one point, he was asked if any cabinet members had expressed displeasure with Musk and returned to the room to ask them. No one spoke.

The announcement of Musk's departure also came on the same day that CBS - the BBC's US partner - published a segment of an interview in which Musk said he was "disappointed" by Trump's "big, beautiful" budget bill. The bill includes multi-trillion dollar tax cuts and a promise to increase defense spending.

Musk said the bill "undermines" Doge's work to cut spending, reflecting larger tensions within the Republican Party over the path forward./ CNA