Elon Musk is finally leaving Washington, or so we’re told. Speaking to panicked Tesla investors on Tuesday, the electric car company’s CEO said the magic words that they—and countless millions across the country—have been wanting to hear for months. “Starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” said an audibly weary Musk, who was probably still reeling from the news two hours earlier that Tesla’s profits had plunged 71 percent in the first three months of the year.
The message was well received by his intended audience. Tesla’s long-declining share price shot up, as investors breathed a sigh of relief that Musk, after cosplaying as an elected fascist, might finally return to what he is supposedly good at: running companies. Not only that, but less time at DOGE theoretically also means fewer scandals and distractions—and thus, less rage fuel for the Tesla Takedown movement. Maybe, with Musk out of Washington, the company’s fortunes will turn around. Or so the thinking surely goes on Wall Street.
There’s just one problem: Musk isn’t actually leaving. His time at DOGE may “drop significantly,” but in the same call he made it clear he intends to continue his political work until (at least) 2029. “I’ll have to continue doing it for, I think, probably the remainder of the president’s term, just to make sure that the waste and fraud that we stop does not come roaring back, which it will do if it has the chance,” he said, adding he still plans to spend “a day or two a week” at the quasi agency.
But even if Musk were to leave DOGE behind completely, the idea that he—and, by extension Tesla or any of his other companies, like Starlink, SpaceX, or X—can ever discard his association with Trump is an absurd fantasy. Musk may spend less time directing the destruction of the government and wrecking thousands of federal workers’ livelihoods, but he has not had a come-to-Jesus moment. The epitome of American oligarchy, he will remain a dominant force in the MAGA-pilled Republican Party and will still have X as his megaphone for far-right extremism. He will continue to tyrannize us all.
Tesla’s stock price shot up on Tuesday because investors bought into a ridiculous fantasy that Tesla can somehow turn back the clock. Many liberals—once the company’s core demographic—have unloaded their vehicles, and many more will never buy one again. Even apolitical and moderate consumers have turned away, either because of the Musk stigma or a fear of getting vandalized. This brand damage is not going to suddenly heal just because Musk reduced his workdays in Washington. It’s hard to see how the company, which was already struggling amid greater competition domestically and internationally, flourishes again with Musk at the helm—or in any role, even a symbolic one.
The same is true for Musk’s other companies. Many, particularly Starlink and SpaceX, are heavily dependent on government contracts. It’s hard to imagine a world in which a Democratic administration were to continue supplying these companies with the kinds of lucrative deals that have kept them afloat for years, given that Musk is now the GOP’s most important donor and has spent the last several years accusing Democrats of importing violent undocumented immigrants for the purpose of rigging elections. Musk’s companies are, to be fair, also reliant on contracts with other countries, but here his close association with Trump is an even bigger problem. In early March, Ontario canceled a $100 million contract with Starlink in retaliation for Trump’s tariffs and threats of making Canada the fifty-first state. It’s not hard to imagine other governments, including ones much larger than Canada’s most populous province, following suit.
X, Musk’s social media platform, is in another category altogether. It might be the very source of his problems, both because it’s a massively unprofitable business and because Musk’s posts on it constantly draw attention to his vile politics. Its value has decreased dramatically since he bought it in 2022, and it has seen a liberal exodus as Musk has turned it into a far-right cesspool, where he fiddles with the controls in order to amplify extremism and suppress voices he disagrees with. Yes, its fortunes have recently stabilized, but much of the turnaround is the result of his close association with Donald Trump—once he leaves power, the company will have many of the same problems. As with Tesla, it’s difficult to imagine its long-term survival with Musk at the helm.
Even if Musk were to shut up about his odious beliefs, which is frankly impossible to imagine, it’s even harder to imagine that the world’s richest person would suddenly stop funding Republicans. He was by far the party’s biggest donor last year, and he will most likely be the biggest donor in the midterms. He has already pledged to support any primary campaign of a Republican deemed disloyal to the administration.
It is true that leaving Washington would mean fewer damaging day-to-day headlines for Musk. He will own DOGE forever, of course, but he would now have a fig leaf of deniability the next time it cuts thousands of jobs or destroys an entire agency or department. This may lessen the turbulence for Tesla investors, but the larger problem still remains. Musk’s reputation—and with it, that of his companies—is permanently damaged. Indeed, if X is forced to enter bankruptcy or Musk is fired from Tesla, one can easily imagine him becoming even more involved in right-wing politics. He will still have untold billions of dollars to play with and plenty more political enemies to wield his riches against.
Sure, it’s theoretically possible that Musk will realize that his continued association with Trump is an existential threat to his businesses. It’s possible that this realization will lead him to cut ties with the president and MAGA and to disavow DOGE altogether. It’s possible that, in a desperate bid to save his companies, he will leave politics behind altogether and only tweet and speak about rocket ships, futuristic cars, and life on Mars for the foreseeable future. But c’mon, this is Elon Musk we’re talking about.
