President Donald Trump has broken his silence after Elon Musk stepped down from his role as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

With his ‘first buddy’ stepping down from his post in politics, all eyes were cast on the POTUS for his thoughts on the departure – but it wasn’t until almost a day later until we heard from the 78-year-old.

It has long been rumored that their relationship had become fractured, with the pair having been inseparable in the first few months of the Republican reclaiming the Oval Office – but in terms of the billionaire’s exit from the Trump administration, it was expected.

That is because Musk had been working under a distinct role in the US government as a ‘special government employee’ – which allowed him to work for up to 130 days in the office each year.

However, his resignation came three days early, and only one day after he criticized Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’.

Elon Musk had been working under a distinct role as a ‘special government employee’ prior to his exit (Yuri Gripas for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Speaking to CBS in a preview clip that aired on Tuesday (May 27), Musk said: “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill frankly, which increases the budget deficit not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the Doge team is doing.

“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful… but I don’t know if it could be both, my personal opinion.”

The bill devised an increased in defense spending, including Trump’s ambition to implement a ‘Golden Dome’ above the US, which would protect it from enemy missiles, as well as multi-trillion dollar tax breaks.

However, as Musk mentioned, it undermined his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – with the new legislation could could increase government spending by around $600 billion in the next fiscal year.

President Donald Trump is set to give Musk a fare well later today (May 30), from the Oval Office (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Regardless, of any friction between the couple, Trump looks set to give Musk a proper send off for his involvement in helping him reclaim the White House.

Taking to Truth Social, the president posted: “I am having a Press Conference tomorrow at 1:30 P.M. EST, with Elon Musk, at the Oval Office.

“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.”

Yes, the pair are set to say fare well later today on May 30 – which is much better way for the world’s richest man to depart, with Trump only having posted a cryptic message hours after news broke that Musk was leaving politics.

Posting a meme to his account, it pictured Trump walking in the middle of a darkened street at night, captioned: “He’s on a mission from God & nothing can stop what is coming.”

As for Musk himself, he announced his departure on his social media platform, Twitter – which he rebranded to X.

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” he posted.

“The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

Elon Musk has announced he is stepping down from his post in politics after sharing his ‘disappointment’ in the Trump administration.

The world’s richest man was working under a distinct role in the US government as a ‘special government employee’ – which allows him to work for up to 130 days in the office each year, before his official exit on May 28.

So while his departure was expected, the Tesla owner has resigned three days earlier – and just a day after publicly criticizing President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’.

Speaking to CBS in a preview clip that aired on Tuesday (May 27), Musk said: “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill frankly, which increases the budget deficit not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the Doge team is doing.

“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful… but I don’t know if it could be both, my personal opinion.”

The BBC has reported that following his criticism, the White House was working to ‘offboard’ Musk yesterday and he’s now added further comment on his platform X.

Elon Musk publicly criticized the Trump administration shortly before he stepped down from his government role (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The billionaire posted: “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending.

“The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

The POTUS has been tight lipped on the matter so far, but he did send a cryptic message on Truth Social.

Posting a meme to his account, it pictured Trump walking in the middle of a darkened street at night, captioned: “He’s on a mission from God & nothing can stop what is coming.”

Despite not being voted in by the public, Musk has been heading up the new government division alongside former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

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As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending. The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.

5:01 PM · May 28, 2025

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His mission was to streamline the US government through plans to axe thousands of jobs and drastically reduce the wage bill, and once he had finished his mission, he had vowed to disband the department – setting a completion date of no later than July 4, 2026… Independence Day next year.

As Trump put it, his primary objective is to ‘dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies’.

The initiative has already engaged in mass layoffs across the country, overseen the removal of diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) programs, and it’s made sizeable cuts to the Department of Education.

Musk was referred to as President Donald Trump’s ‘first buddy’, with the pair having been inseparable in POTUS’ first few months in office (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

What is the ‘big, beautiful bill’?

The spending bill includes an increased in defense spending, including Trump’s ambition to implement a ‘Golden Dome’ above the US which would protect it from enemy missiles, as well as multi-trillion dollar tax breaks.

Having just squeezed through the House of Representatives, it will now go to the senate.

It is believed that the new legislation could could increase government spending by around $600 billion in the next fiscal year – which the SpaceX owner believes ‘undermines’ his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency.

President Donald Trump has taken a swipe at his former ‘first buddy’ Elon Musk, saying he is ‘disappointed in him’.

It has long been rumored that their relationship had become fractured, with the pair having been inseparable in the first few months of the Republican reclaiming the Oval Office back in January – but in terms of the billionaire’s exit from the Trump administration, it was expected.

That is because Musk had been working under a distinct role in the US government as a ‘special government employee’ – which allowed him to work for up to 130 days in the office each year.

However, his resignation came three days early, and only one day after he criticized Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office today (June 5), Trump said: “Look, you know, I’ve always liked Elon, and it’s always – very surprised. You saw the words he had for me, the words and he hasn’t said anything about me, that’s bad.

“I’d rather have him criticize me than the bill, because the bill is incredible. Elon and I had a great relationship, I don’t know if it went well anymore.

“I was surprised because, you were here, everybody in this room practically was here as we had a wonderful send off. He said wonderful things about me couldn’t have nicer. Said the best thing.

“But I’m very disappointed, because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here.”

Musk has since responded to him on Twitter, penning: “False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!”

It isn’t the first time Musk has been vocal on the bill.

Elon Musk has been vocal about Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ – in a manner that has disappointed the POTUS (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Speaking to CBS in a preview clip that aired on Tuesday (May 27), Musk said: “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill frankly, which increases the budget deficit not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the Doge team is doing.

“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful… but I don’t know if it could be both, my personal opinion.”

The bill devised an increased in defense spending, including Trump’s ambition to implement a ‘Golden Dome’ above the US, which would protect it from enemy missiles, as well as multi-trillion dollar tax breaks.

However, as Musk mentioned, it undermined his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – with the new legislation could could increase government spending by around $600 billion in the next fiscal year.

President Donald Trump has spoken out after Elon Musk publicly criticized his administration’s ‘big, beautiful bill’.

The world’s richest man has stepped down from his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, handing in his resignation yesterday (May 28) – a day after a clip aired of him lambasting the House-passed Republican bill.

“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill frankly, which increases the budget deficit not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the Doge team is doing,” Musk said in a preview clip for CBS on Sunday, that aired on Tuesday.

“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful… but I don’t know if it could be both, my personal opinion.”

The spending bill includes an increased in defense spending, including Trump’s ambition to implement a ‘Golden Dome’ above the US which would protect it from enemy missiles, as well as multi-trillion dollar tax breaks.

Now, when asked by reporters in the Oval Office for his reaction to the Tesla owner publicly sharing his ‘disappointment’ with his legislation, Trump replied: “Well my reaction is a lot of things. Number one, we have to get a lot of votes we can’t be cutting, you know?

“We need to get a lot of support, and we have a lot of support – we had to get it through the House.”

He went on to claim that if the spending wasn’t approved taxpayers would have to pay a 65 percent increase in taxes, along with ‘lots of other big problems’, instead of having ‘the largest tax cut in the history’ of the US.

Elon Musk has resigned from his post as head of the Department of Government Efficiency days before his time in office was due to come to an end this year, with rumors of an alleged rift taking place between President Donald Trump and the billionaire (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Unbelievably, Trump went on to slightly criticize his own bill – with the POTUS rarely, if ever, conceding to having issues with his policies.

“We will be negotiating that bill and I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it – that’s the way they go,” the businessman explained.

“It’s very big, it’s the big beautiful bill but the beautiful is because of all of the things we have – the biggest thing being I would say the level of tax cutting that we’re going to be doing.”

His tone is in stark contrast to how he announced the legislation on Truth Social, which could increase government spending by around $600 billion in the next fiscal year.