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President Donald Trump and adviser Elon Musk celebrated their efforts to slash federal spending before Musk stepped away from his White House work. Musk wore a black DOGE hat over a bruised right eye that he blamed on his young son’s punch. That was May 30 in the Oval Office. Days later, the two billionaires were punching at each other on social media platforms they own.
Their fight began over federal tax and spending legislation, with Musk calling a Trump-backed bill “a disgusting abomination” and Trump saying he was “very disappointed” with Musk. Soon, Musk claimed credit for Trump and Republicans winning in 2024 and Trump threatened to cut off Musk companies’ federal contracts.
The public display of animosity called into question the fate of months of Department of Government Efficiency work.
Under Musk’s oversight and with Trump’s approval, DOGE axed billions of dollars in grants for state health departments and scientific research. It gutted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers. It all but shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development, the decades-old department that provides food and health care to people in other countries.
Still, as Musk ended his work with DOGE, it was clear that the group’s cost cutting achievements fell short of Musk’s goals. A week before Trump won his second term, Musk said he expected to cut “at least $2 trillion,” without identifying a timeframe for doing it. He later lowered that to $1 trillion.
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