In the midst of a reunion of an oval office tense with the president of South Africa last Wednesday, president Donald Trump Make a temporary reference to the man who, until recently, seemed to be omnipresent in Washington.
“Elon is from South Africa,” said Trump, making a gesture to the richest man in the world, who was just in the room. “I don’t want to involve Elon. That’s all I have to do, bring it into something else.”
Elon Musk The appearance at the White House came one day after telling an audience that he planned to go far Less money on politics Move forward. And last month, Tech Titan told investors to Tesla that it would be reducing his involvement in Doge And “allocating much more time” to the company of electric vehicles.
Last week demonstrated that Musk, although he can publish less on politics and put his attention to his commercial interests, is unlikely that the disappearance of disappearing completely. After all, he said the same thing Call for winnings in April That he would continue to spend one or two days a week on “government issues” for “as long as the president would like me to do it”.
Beyond its appearance in the oval office, Musk also appeared twice on Capitol Hill, once Wednesday afternoon and again Thursday morning. In both cases, he met groups of republican legislators to discuss AI and other questions.
Musk with his son, X æ A-12, after meeting the senators at the Capitol on Wednesday. Elizabeth Frantz / Reuters
It is a sign that musk, even beyond its role as informal leader in DOGEThere remains a source of expertise of trust for the GOP.
And if you ask the Republicans about Musk, they are always likely to spring up.
“He is an extraordinary entrepreneur who has created jobs throughout Texas and across the country,” Senator Ted Cruz said in Bi last week, reacting to the news which, according to Musk, would spend less for the elections. “I think he is engaged in a huge amount of personal sacrifice, both helping to produce results from the historic elections in 2024, then to come and work for free for the American people and to direct Doge.”
After meeting Musk on Thursday, a republican of the room – representative John James of Michigan – published a selfie with Tech Titan on X.
“It is only in America that a meme could become a mission for the Moon and make America again large,” wrote James, referring to the original acronym of the same acronym Doge.
Musk and the White House also said that Doge, the cost reduction effort that defined a large part of the first Trump’s second presidency, will survive the daily involvement of Musk.
“DOGE’s mission – Reducing waste, fraud and abuse – will surely continue,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement in this story. “DOGE employees who are on board in their respective agencies will continue to work with President Trump’s office to make our government more effective.”
For Democrats, the continuous presence of Musk is a reason to remain vigilant. Wisconsin Mark Pocan representative rejected Titan technology Comments on hindsight Politics earlier this week, suggesting that Republicans simply understand that he is a lightning rod of controversy.
“He has invested too much money in this race,” said Pocan, referring to the 2024 elections. “He still benefits from this investment. He realizes that he cannot do it in front and in the center.”