Musk Reduces Role in Government, Shifts Focus Back to Tesla Due to Profit Decline

Elon Musk will significantly reduce his role in the U.S. government and redirect his attention back to Tesla, which has reported a profit decline in the first quarter of this year, during a period when Musk was predominantly focused on DOGE, the department of the Trump administration he leads, U.S. media reports.

– Starting next month, I will dedicate much more time to Tesla. The heavy lifting needed to establish the DOGE team is mostly done – Musk stated this week.

Musk emphasized that he will not completely leave the Trump administration and is likely to remain the face of the DOGE department until the end of the presidential term ‘to ensure that the waste of money and fraud they aim to stop do not return.

It is worth noting that DOGE is the English abbreviation for the Department of Government Efficiency, which Donald Trump established as soon as he took office, aimed at reducing the budget for a number of state programs.

Musk’s role as a presidential advisor – whose campaign he supported with over a quarter of a billion dollars – catapulted the richest man in the world into the heart of the government and gave him immense power to dismantle key departments and regulatory agencies.

However, some of the billionaire’s business interests have also suffered due to his political alliances. Tesla’s brand has been associated with Trump’s actions, and comprehensive tariffs on China threaten to disrupt important supply chains.

All of this has negatively impacted Tesla, which reported a nine percent revenue decline this week, while revenue from car sales fell by as much as 20 percent. Additionally, Tesla recorded a 71 percent year-over-year profit decline in the first quarter of this year, reporting a profit of $409 million compared to a profit of $1.4 billion in the same period last year. This is the lowest quarterly profit for this automaker since the end of 2020.

Decline in Exports

Moreover, it seems that Musk’s ambitions for DOGE have diminished in recent weeks. Initially, he claimed that the department would save the U.S. as much as $2 trillion annually, but earlier this month he stated that he had saved $150 billion, although he signaled that ‘most of the work in DOGE might be done.’ Furthermore, Musk is also nearing the end of his term as a ‘special government employee’ assigned to him for a period of 130 days.

Musk has been a ubiquitous figure in the Trump administration since the November elections, and even before them, although he has been less in focus in recent weeks. Nevertheless, it was Musk who clashed with government members over the White House’s trade policy. For instance, earlier this month he called Trump’s tariff creator Peter Navarro a ‘moron,’ while just a few days ago he stated that lower tariffs are the right path to prosperity. However, he added that tariff decisions are ‘essentially up to the elected representative of the people, namely the President of the United States.’

Musk has been a long-time critic of trade barriers and has advocated for lower tariffs with Trump since the beginning of the tariff saga. The reason for this is also the fact that his Tesla assembles vehicles sold in the U.S. locally but is subject to Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on cars because it sources components from other markets. For example, it sources batteries from China.

Earlier this month, Tesla reported that its exports fell by 13 percent in the first three months of this year compared to the previous year, marking the worst quarter since 2022. It also lost the crown of the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer to Chinese rival BYD.

However, during this week’s financial results announcement and the announced departure from DOGE, shares of the American electric vehicle manufacturer rose by as much as 7.8 percent in pre-market trading and eventually stabilized at around five percent. It is worth noting that Tesla’s stock recorded a decline of nearly 45 percent in the first quarter of this year, and analysts predict a continued decline in stock price throughout 2025.