'Humiliation': Musk mocked  after report says he'll be stepping back from 'hatchet man' job

Just months ago, a Trump White House advisor suggested that Elon Musk—a special government employee bound by law to step down after a limited tenure—was likely to overstay his term. Now, after a resounding defeat in Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court race, where voters overwhelmingly chose a Democrat—despite Musk injecting millions of dollars, his outsized persona, and million-dollar checks to voters—it seems the Tesla billionaire may have overstayed his welcome.

"President Donald Trump has told his inner circle, including members of his Cabinet, that Elon Musk will be stepping back in the coming weeks from his current role as governing partner, ubiquitous cheerleader and Washington hatchet man," Politico reports in an exclusive. "The president remains pleased with Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency initiative but both men have decided in recent days that it will soon be time for Musk to return to his businesses and take on a supporting role, according to three Trump insiders who were granted anonymity to describe the evolving relationship."

Politico also reports that "Musk’s looming retreat" comes as Trump's allies — insiders and outsiders — increasingly are squawking at his "unpredictability, and increasingly view the billionaire as a political liability."

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That "dynamic that was thrown into stark relief Tuesday when a conservative judge Musk vocally supported lost his bid for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat by 10 points."

The Politico report comes on "Liberation Day," as Trump is calling Wednesday — the day he will announce his highly-controversial and some say, harmful, global tariffs.

Last week, Trump had already begun setting the stage for a smooth and face-saving exit, and on Monday he told reporters that “at some point Elon’s going to want to go back to his company.” (See video below.)

But Musk is unlikely to vanish from the scene entirely, according to Politico.

"They’re feeling the pressure," U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) commented, in response to the Politico report. "Keep up the fight to Fire Elon Musk."

Iconic tech and business journalist Kara Swisher remarked, "Trump does not like a loser. The cheesehead antic was repellent to voters, and now to Elon’s BFF."

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Eoin Higgins, author of the book, "Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left," noted that "the dismantling of the agencies is in motion and will continue, but this is still a humiliation—all that money and power only to find out that people just don't like you and you're so unpopular you're dragging everyone else down with you."

Attorney, academic, and author Alberto Alemanno writes that "Musk's political adventure is over (for now). He's become a political liability and we can now ALL stop amplifying his omniscient takes."

Chris Griswold, policy director at the conservative think tank American Compass, snarked, "When they do Liberation Day, they really do Liberation Day."

Watch the video below or at this link.

Reporter: Elon Musk's special government tenure is coming to an end,.. Do you want to stay longer or is it time to going back to running his companies?
Trump: I think he's amazing but he has a big company to run. At some point he'll be going back.
Reporter: Do you want to… pic.twitter.com/mX5jceYJ6S
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 31, 2025

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