Elon Musk steps back from government role, reclaims focus on Tesla and SpaceX

Elon Musk has traded in his role as President Trump’s right-hand disruptor in Washington for his old identity as the world’s most ambitious tech entrepreneur. Clad in his “Occupy Mars” T-shirt and declaring he’s back to sleeping in Tesla factories and SpaceX server rooms, Musk is attempting to reassert himself at the helm of his business empire. But his extended political detour is still casting long shadows over the companies he left behind, the New York Times reported.

Fallout at Tesla

Tesla, once Musk’s crown jewel, has emerged as the most visibly bruised from his time in the Trump administration. With sales and profits falling, a wave of customer backlash over Musk’s political leanings has left the company’s brand battered. The Republican-led budget bill under consideration in the Senate threatens to gut the very electric vehicle subsidies that helped Tesla rise to dominance. Tesla’s stock is down 14% this year, erasing nearly $180 billion in market value.

Musk’s absence from Tesla operations was stark. According to insiders, he rarely visited company offices or factories after Trump’s inauguration. When he finally appeared at Tesla’s Palo Alto office in April—just days before a disappointing earnings call—employees were alarmed to discover how late he was to grasp the implications of Trump’s tariffs. The visit underscored what many inside Tesla had feared: their CEO had become disengaged.

Trouble at SpaceX

SpaceX, Musk’s other flagship company, also felt the void. While two Starship test launches went ahead, employees like former mechanic Dylan Small publicly pleaded for Musk’s return, citing low morale and burnout. Musk has since made a visible effort to be back—posting from the control room during the latest launch and giving interviews to media outlets he once ignored. The launch ultimately ended in an explosion, but Musk was front and center, reasserting his presence.

According to The New York Times, Musk posted nearly 1,000 times on X about SpaceX during Trump’s term—just half the volume of his posts about DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency he briefly led.

Rebuilding Credibility—and Control

Musk’s return comes at a sensitive time. He remains the public face of all his ventures, from Tesla and SpaceX to the AI firm xAI and social media platform X. But his time in government—where he slashed federal jobs and appeared more focused on policy than products—raised alarms about his commitment to the companies he founded.

His political ties have also had mixed results. Trump promoted Tesla and praised Musk during a recent U.S. visit, and SpaceX secured more Starlink-related government work. But Musk’s polarizing image hurt Tesla’s customer base. One former Tesla employee said it became “a grind every day to sell a car” because of Musk’s politics.

What Happens Next?

Musk remains elusive about how much time he’ll now spend at his companies. At a White House press conference, he described his departure from government as “not the end of DOGE but really the beginning,” promising to remain an adviser to the president. Trump chimed in: “Elon’s really not leaving. He’s going to be back and forth.”

Inside Tesla, Musk has been dialling into meetings more frequently, and a board member has reportedly stepped in to cover operational gaps. At X and xAI, he continues to push AI ambitions, recently merging the two companies and orchestrating a $113 billion tender offer for employees to sell equity. A tentative deal to integrate Grok, xAI’s chatbot, into Telegram was also announced—although Musk later tweeted that no agreement had been signed.

As Musk resumes his role as a business leader, the question remains: can he recover lost ground, or has the political detour changed the trajectory of his empire for good?