{"id":6030,"date":"2025-04-02T17:20:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T17:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/?p=6030"},"modified":"2025-04-02T17:20:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T17:20:09","slug":"trump-privately-indicates-elon-musk-could-step-back-from-current-role-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/?p=6030","title":{"rendered":"Trump privately indicates Elon Musk could step back from current role: Sources"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">President <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/alerts\/donald-trump\" id=\"_ap_link_Donald Trump_DonaldTrump_\" target=\"_blank\">Donald Trump<\/a> has indicated to top advisers that Elon Musk could be taking a step back from his current role in the administration, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Musk is employed by the government as a &#8220;special government employee&#8221; \u2014 meaning his appointment is not to exceed 130 days. His term would be up around the end of May, but it was widely rumored that the White House could take steps to keep him on or extend his employment status in some way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">As ABC News has previously reported, Musk&#8217;s decision-making has divided Trump&#8217;s top aides and <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/musk-rubio-clashed-front-trump-cabinet-meeting-sources\/story?id=119572925\">at times has sparked rifts<\/a> among those closest to the president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Some of Musk&#8217;s defenders in the White House caution reporting that Musk is being pushed out is overblown, sources said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Trump remains pleased with what Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team have done with their cost-cutting across the government, despite the backlash publicly and in the courts, according to sources.<\/p>\n<div class=\"oLzSq QrHMO fnRUo pvsTF EhJPu vPlOC zNYgW OsTsW RMeqy daRVX ISNQ sKyCY eRftA acPPc MENS nFwaT MCnQE mEeeY SmBjI xegrY rPLsU iulOd NIuqO zzscu lzDCc aHUBM IEgzD OjMNy eQqcx SVqKB GQmdz jaoD VWDdR ONJdw vrZxD OnRTz gbbfF roDbV GPGwb oMlSS gfNzt oJhud eXZcf zhVlX \">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage GpQCA lZur asrEW \" data-testid=\"prism-inline-image\">\n<figure class=\"kzIjN GNmeK pYrtp dSqFO \" data-testid=\"prism-figure\">\n<div class=\"GpQCA lZur \" style=\"padding-bottom:66.70524691358025%\" data-testid=\"prism-ratio-frame\">\n<div class=\"FvQLF iLTd NqeUA UzzHi iWsMV \"><picture data-testid=\"prism-picture\"><source media=\"(max-width: 414px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/ecf76ed0-3dd9-47af-a80a-a76d54285a1b\/elon-musk-9-rt-gmh-250324_1742837079160_hpMain.jpg?w=375, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/ecf76ed0-3dd9-47af-a80a-a76d54285a1b\/elon-musk-9-rt-gmh-250324_1742837079160_hpMain.jpg?w=750 2x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 415px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/ecf76ed0-3dd9-47af-a80a-a76d54285a1b\/elon-musk-9-rt-gmh-250324_1742837079160_hpMain.jpg?w=750, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/ecf76ed0-3dd9-47af-a80a-a76d54285a1b\/elon-musk-9-rt-gmh-250324_1742837079160_hpMain.jpg?w=1500 2x\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>\n<div class=\"nMMea bNYiy Mjgpa dGwha DDmxa jgKNG RGHCC aBIU PriDW lZur \" data-testid=\"prism-caption\">\n<p><span class=\"hsDdd OOSI GpQCA lZur VlFaz \" data-testid=\"prism-truncate\"><span><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ \">Elon Musk speaks as President Donald Trump hosts a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Mar. 24, 2025, in Washington.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ YNujN JGtjI aZFDu rkKLh \">Carlos Barria\/Reuters<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Politico was first to report the news that Trump had told top advisers that Musk would likely be taking a step back from his role in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Trump said publicly on Monday that Musk will likely have to go back and run Tesla at some point. The president was asked specifically about the 130-day special government employee time limit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Well, I think he&#8217;s \u2026 amazing. But I also think he&#8217;s got a big company to run. And so, at some point he&#8217;s going to be going back. He wants to.&#8221; Trump said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">ABC News previously reported that some White House officials who had grown frustrated with Musk had resigned themselves that the billionaire is unlikely to be reined in anytime soon and had instead focused on managing the situation as best they can until his special government contract comes to an end in May.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the Politico report &#8220;garbage&#8221; in a post on X Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Elon Musk and President Trump have both *publicly* stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete,&#8221; Leavitt said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \"><em class=\" \">This is a developing story. Check back for updates.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump has indicated to top advisers that Elon Musk could be taking a step back from his current role in the administration, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. Musk is employed by the government as a &#8220;special government employee&#8221; \u2014 meaning his appointment is not to exceed 130 days. His term [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6030"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6032,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6030\/revisions\/6032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}