
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
'As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,' he wrote on his social media platform X.
A White House official told Reuters that Mr Musk is leaving the administration and his 'off-boarding will begin tonight.'
Mr Musk's 130-day mandate as a special government employee in the Trump administration was set to expire around May 30. The administration has said Doge's efforts to restructure and shrink the federal government will continue.
'The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,' he wrote.
Mr Musk and Doge have cut nearly 12 per cent, or 260,000 people, from the 2.3 million-strong federal civilian workforce largely through threats of firings, buyouts and early retirement offers, Reuters reported.
Mr Musk's departure comes after he criticised the price tag of Republicans' tax and budget legislation making its way through Congress.
'I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the Doge team is doing,' Mr Musk told CBS News.
The richest person on the planet's political activities have drawn protests and some investors has called for Mr Musk to leave his work as Mr Trump's adviser and manage Tesla more closely.
He leaves Washington dramatically changed. Doge's firings exploded the US capital's long-held boast that it is immune to economic shocks that buffet the rest of the country.
The Tesla and SpaceX chief joined the Trump administration in January and claimed he would cut $2 trillion from the $7 trillion federal budget. It became clear that was wildly overambitious, and as of today, Doge says it has saved an estimated $175 billion.
But the taxpayer may end up on the hook for more than that as the government is forced to settle lawsuits over the mass firings, as well as hire expensive contractors to fill the gaps left by an overzealous Doge.
Plus, any savings will be dwarfed by new deficit spending under the Republicans' tax bill that is currently under Senate consideration.
Mr Musk's role working for Mr Trump was always intended to be temporary, and he had recently signalled that he would be shifting his attention back to running his businesses.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Zawya
4 hours ago
- Zawya
UPDATE 1-AT&T to dual list on NYSE Texas
Wireless carrier AT&T said on Thursday it will dual list on the NYSE Texas, effective August 1. NYSE Texas officially opened for business in March and has seen several companies, including oilfield service company Halliburton and Truth Social-parent Trump Media & Technology Group, dual list on the Dallas-based exchange in the first three months. "Following its dual listing, AT&T will maintain its primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange and trade with the "T" ticker symbol on NYSE Texas," the company said. (Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)


The National
4 hours ago
- The National
US imposes sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials and PLO members
The US on Thursday announced it is to impose sanctions on officials in the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organisation. Washington accused the PA and PLO of 'continuing to support terrorism', supporting international legal cases against Israel and 'undermining prospects for peace', the US State Department said in a statement on Thursday. The State Department did not immediately release a list of the officials named in the sanctions, who will be denied US visas. 'It is in our national security interests to impose consequences and hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments and undermining the prospects for peace,' the statement added. The State Department accused the PA and PLO of 'taking actions to internationalise its conflict with Israel', which it said was in breach of commitments they made under the PLO Commitments Compliance Act of 1989 and the Middle East Peace Commitments Act of 2002. The sanctions come after western nations including Canada, France and the UK said they could endorse a Palestinian state at September's UN General Assembly. The US has called the decision to recognise a Palestinian state 'reckless' and said it would benefit Hamas. More than 60,200 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its war on Gaza, making it by far the deadliest episode of the decades-long conflict. Hunger grips Gaza and recent images of starving children have fuelled international backlash and forced Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.


Khaleej Times
4 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Pakistan says it wins US tariff deal; Trump cites oil reserves pact
The United States and Pakistan hailed a trade deal on Thursday that Islamabad said would lead to lower tariffs and increased investment, but without specifying the level of tariff to be levied on Pakistani exports. "This deal marks the beginning of a new era of economic collaboration especially in energy, mines and minerals, IT, cryptocurrency and other sectors," the Pakistan finance ministry said in a statement following a final round of talks in Washington. Islamabad described the deal as a marker of a broader partnership with Washington, and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who led the final round of talks, said there was a larger economic and strategic agreement. "From our perspective, it was always going beyond the immediate trade imperative, and its whole purpose was, and is, that trade and investment have to go hand in hand," he said, in video-taped remarks. Pakistan had faced a potential tariff of 29%, which was later suspended - as with other nations - to allow trade talks up to an August 1 deadline. Islamabad was aiming at a tariff less than regional trade rivals such as Vietnam, which had a 20% tariff imposed by Trump, and India, which is threatened with a 25% tariff. Islamabad's trade surplus with Washington was around $3 billion in 2024, mainly due to textile exports. The United States is Pakistan's biggest market for textiles. The finance ministry said the agreement would lead to a "reduction of reciprocal tariffs, especially on Pakistani exports to the United States", but stopped short of revealing the figure. U.S. President Donald Trump meanwhile trumpeted a pact to help develop Pakistan's oil reserves. "We have just concluded a Deal with the Country of Pakistan, whereby Pakistan and the United States will work together on developing their massive Oil Reserves," Trump wrote on social media. "We are in the process of choosing the Oil Company that will lead this Partnership." OFFSHORE EXPLORATION However Pakistan has seen a series of unsuccessful offshore exploration attempts. Its proven recoverable conventional crude oil reserves of between 234 million and 353 million barrels by different estimates place it around 50th in the world. Shale oil extraction has not been developed in Pakistan, though a 2015 study by the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated a technically recoverable shale oil resource of 9.1 billion barrels for Pakistan. Oil is Pakistan's biggest import item, $11.3 billion in the year ended June 30, 2025, accounting for nearly a fifth of its total import bill, central bank data showed. The agreement does have potentially wider diplomatic aspects. Washington has been concerned to wean Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country of 240 million people, away from its increasing dependence on China. Before the Trump administration, Islamabad's relationship with Washington had cooled in recent years, as the U.S. had drawn closer to Pakistan's traditional adversary India. There was also resentment from Washington over Afghanistan, especially under the administration of President Joe Biden, which oversaw a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and the handing over of the country to the Taliban insurgency that Washington accused Islamabad of backing. Pakistan denies the charge. Under Trump, Washington has sought to renegotiate trade deals with many countries which he threatened with tariffs for trade relations he calls unfair, a characterization many economists dispute. In South Asia, Trump has repeatedly taken credit for a ceasefire agreed between India and Pakistan on May 10, after four days of conflict, saying he used the threat of restricting trade to get the two sides to halt hostilities. Islamabad embraced that version of events, praising him for intervening and then nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. India disputes Trump's claims that the ceasefire resulted from his involvement and trade threats. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington, Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Writing by Saeed Shah; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and David Holmes)