US President Donald Trump will hold a news conference at the White House alongside Elon Musk to mark the world’s richest man’s departure from his official role leading the administration’s effort to slash the size and scope of the federal government.
“I am having a Press Conference tomorrow at 1:30 P.M. EST, with Elon Musk, at the Oval Office,” Trump said in a Thursday night post on his Truth Social platform. “This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific! See you tomorrow at the White House.”
The event will unfold after Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla and SpaceX, criticised Trump’s biggest legislative priority — the tax cut proposal known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” — for not doing enough to reduce federal deficits.
He told CBS News in an interview to be broadcast this weekend that he 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.”
His comments seemed to echo the concerns of some Republicans in the House and Senate who believe the legislation costs too much and demand more spending reductions.
“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful,” Musk said in an excerpt of the interview, “but I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion.”
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Musk’s campaign to slash the size of the US government sent shockwaves through Washington, with some agencies eliminated outright and tens of thousands of federal workers purged or pursuaded to accept buyouts, but the initiative fell short of its own high expectations for cost savings.
Steve Davis, who served as Musk’s de facto second-in-command at DOGE is also leaving, a person familiar with the move said Thursday.
His departure leaves the future of the effort with lower-profile officials at the White House and federal agencies.
