Elon Musk says he's done with Washington. But if the world's richest man steps back from politics entirely, is that a sign that the alliance between tech, power and federal influence is starting to fall apart? A must confirm this week that he's officially ending his role in government, closing the chapter on his controversial experiment to bring Silicon Valley style efficiency to
federal bureaucracy. In a post on X, he thanked Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending, but made it clear that his focus is shifting back to his company's Tesla, SpaceX and XAI. The tone is changed sharply from just months ago, when Musk called himself Trump's first buddy is what's considered one of the administration's most influential figures. But now, after months of internal clashes, unmet promises and missed opportunities, Musk
is clearly disillusioned. In a recent interview, he said he probably spent too much time on politics. What pushed him over the edge? For one, the massive domestic policy bill that Trump's team passed last week. Musk told CBS News he was disappointed with it. He argued the bill increases the federal deficit and undermines the work of his own government team called DOGE, and it was trying to do the best at cutting costs. Now, Trump chose not to respond directly.
He defended the bill's passage and praised Republicans for getting it through. He never mentioned Elon Musk, but White House policy chief Stephen Miller took a shot on social media without naming him, insisting the bill does reduce the deficit and that Musk's team had nothing to do with the legislation. Now, Musk's growing frustration with Washington goes beyond just that bill. He also objected to a high profile deal with the UAE to build an AI data center in Abu Dhabi.
That deal went to Open AI, an organization Musk Co founded but has since distanced himself from after falling out with CEO Sam Altman. And according to White House sources, Musk lobbied to get his own company, XAI, included in that deal, but he failed. I still travelled with Trump to the region. But when it came time for a formal dinner in Qatar, Musk waited in line like everyone else. That public image standing on the sidelines stood in sharp contrast to his earlier
dominance. Just a few months back, Musk had stormed the stage at C PAC with a chainsaw and bragged about how easy it was to save billions of dollars from federal budgets. Behind the scenes, though, DOGE had problems. The team inflated its saving numbers. At times, they posted false claims about cancelled contracts, then deleted them. Musk admitted in an interview this week that he underestimated how hard it would be to cut
government spending. He said the system was harder to navigate than the expected and blame bureaucracy and a lack of political will. Now. One major turning point came when Trump learned that Musk was scheduled to receive a Pentagon briefing on China. After weeks of defending Musk against accusations of conflict of interest, Trump reportedly lost patience. That meeting never happened, and Musk's access to Trump began to narrow. He also lost big financially.
Musk spent about $25 million backing a candidate in Wisconsin who lost the race. He's grown critical of Trump's tariffs, and despite promising Trump team he donate $100 million ahead of the 2026 midterms, that money still hasn't arrived. Now, meanwhile, several of Musk's top deputies are quietly exiting their government roles. Antonio Gracias, who led the doge efforts at the Social Security Administration, has moved to investigating a legal voting. Steve Davis, another Musk
loyalist, is also stepping down. The shape up reflects A broader pullback now. Musk says he's now spending all his time back at work. He posted on X that he's focused on test the SpaceX and XAI. Over the weekend he attended a SpaceX test launch #9 where there was a failure of the booster. It's not really a failure. They were testing it to failure and also the ship blew up mid flight and the rocket exploded halfway through.
Musk called it a big improvement and skipped the planned talk on making life multiplanetary that night, which was supposed to happen about 9:00 but he postponed it and he released a video that wasn't live and was prerecorded. So what's next for Elon Musk? He's not staying silent. He still has a megaphone through X, but for now he's turning away from government reform and back to building rockets and AI
systems. The man who once had Trump's ear now seems more interested in Mars than Capitol Hill. Elon has officially left Washington frustrated with bureaucracy, disillusioned by policy and focus once again, and getting humanity to Mars.