KUALA LUMPUR – Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s work in Washington is over, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
“My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end,” Musk wrote on his platform X on Wednesday.
United States (US) regulations state that such employees are limited to 130 days of employment, which meant that Musk would have to relinquish his position by the end of May.
However, some media reports suggested that there were considerations within the circle of US President Donald Trump to extend the term by switching Musk to part-time.
Musk’s role as an adviser to Trump had already been reduced in recent weeks. Over a month ago, Musk announced that from May onwards, he would spend “significantly” less time working as Trump’s cost-cutter within the government apparatus.
Instead, he would focus more on Tesla, his electric car company, whose sales have plunged in recent weeks as a sizeable number of Tesla’s clientele appear to disapprove of Musk’s support for Trump’s policies.
On Tuesday, new passenger car registrations in the European Union for April were reported – and they rose for the first time this year, though Tesla saw new registrations drop by more than 50 per cent, continuing its downward trend.
Musk said he would still dedicate one or two days a week to government tasks – if Trump wanted him to, which is not a given.
After he announced he would focus more on Tesla, Trump did not attempt to stop Musk, saying that “we have to let him go” so he could focus on his companies, which include SpaceX, alongside Tesla and X. – May 29, 2025