The US President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that the head of Tesla, Elon Musk, could continue his work for the White House for as long as he desired but acknowledged the entrepreneur’s inclination to refocus on his business ventures.
Musk announced the previous month his intention to step down from his unofficial position leading the administration’s cost-cutting “Department of Government Efficiency” to dedicate more attention to his struggling Tesla car company.
“The vast majority of the people in this country really respect and appreciate you,” the President told Musk during a White House cabinet meeting, which could be Musk’s last in his DOGE capacity.
“And you know you’re invited to stay as long as you want,” the President said, while also suggesting that Musk might want “to get back home to his cars.”
Musk, the world’s wealthiest individual, has witnessed his primary source of wealth, Tesla, experience significant damage to its brand reputation stemming from his involvement in political affairs.
Tesla showrooms across Europe and the United States have been targets of vandalism and boycott campaigns, a reaction to public service reductions implemented by Musk in his role as a close advisor to the President.
“You really have sacrificed a lot. They treated you very unfairly,” the President remarked regarding those opposed to Musk.
“They did like to burn my cars, which is not great,” Musk responded.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Tesla’s board of directors initiated procedures several weeks prior to identify a successor to Musk as CEO.
The news outlet, citing sources familiar with the matter, indicated that the board had met with Musk and conveyed the necessity for him to dedicate more time to the company rather than his activities in Washington.
Tesla refuted the report in a post on X, signed by the board’s chairperson, Robyn Denholm.
“There was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company. This is absolutely false,” the statement asserted. “The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead.”
David Sacks, a close ally of Musk and also a member of the current administration, stated last week that Musk would not be leaving DOGE but rather reducing his level of involvement.
He likened this plan to the approach Musk adopted during his acquisition of Twitter in 2022.
“Once he felt like he had a mental model and he had the people in place that he trusted, he can move to more of a maintenance mode,” Sacks explained on the All-In podcast.
