U.S. President Donald Trump told Tesla CEO and Senior Advisor Elon Musk on Wednesday that he is “invited to stay as long as you want,” while noting that Musk has been “treated very unfairly.”
Musk said last week that his time allocation to the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would drop significantly starting from May and that he will be “allocating far more of my time to Tesla.”
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting open to the press, Trump thanked the Senior advisor for his help noting that he has “sacrificed a lot.”
“Well, we all want to thank you for your help. You really have sacrificed a lot. You’ve been treated very unfairly,” Trump stated. Musk replied quickly, saying, “Well, they did like to burn my cars, which is not great.”
Musk is currently categorized as a Special Government Employee, where he is limited to working no longer than 130 days out of the entire year in the role.
The U.S. President defended that “the vast majority of people in this country really respect and appreciate” Musk adding later that he is in “invited to stay as long as you want.”
“And at some point, I guess, he wants to get back home to his cars. You’ve done an incredible job. $150 billion [saved in “waste, fraud and abuse” at DOGE]. Think of that,” Trump said. “$160 billion,” Musk corrected while joking.
“And it’s also an honor to work with your incredible cabinet. I just like to say thank you. It’s great to work with you,” Musk said.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles also said on Wednesday that Tesla’s chief is no longer working from the White House but remotely instead.
“Instead of meeting with him in person, I’m talking to him on the phone, but it’s the same net effect,” Wiles stated while noting that “it really doesn’t matter much” that Musk “hasn’t been here physically.
“He’s not out of it altogether. He’s just not physically present as much as he was. The people that are doing this work are here doing good things and paying attention to the details. He’ll be stepping back a little, but he’s certainly not abandoning it. And his people are definitely not,” WH Chief of Staff added.
At Tesla’s latest earnings conference call, Musk stated, “I think starting probably in next month, May, my time allocation to those will drop significantly.”
After lowering his time allocation to the Department, Musk sees himself spending “a day or two per week” on those matters, “for as long as the president would like me to do so.”
