Donald Trump's full remarks on Elon Musk leaving DOGE: At some point, let him ...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that his job in Washington is “mostly done”. At the recent earnings call of Tesla, Elon Musk said that he plans to cut back his role in the US government. Musk said that his "time allocation to DOGE" would "drop significantly" from next month, adding he would spend only one to two days per week. The earnings call revealed a tough first quarter for Tesla, as revenue fell 9%, auto sales were off 20%, and net income plunged 71% from last year at the same time. At the centre of the controversy is Musk's leadership position with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where his push to cut back government spending has been applauded by some, but has also received huge criticism.

After Elon Musk's announcement that he would allocate more time to Tesla, US President Donald Trump too responded to Musk's remarks that he would scale back his work for the Trump administration in May to focus on Tesla. And as always, Trump was all praise for Musk, brushing off critics and defending his work on federal reform. Talking to reporters, Trump said what he described as unfair treatment of Elon Musk and Tesla. "They took it out on Tesla, and I just thought it was so unfair because he's trying to help the country, but he has helped the country… He didn't need to do this. He did it," he said.

Here's Donald Trump's full statement on Elon Musk stepping back from DOGE as shared by Twitter user Dogedesigner and reposted by Elon Musk himself
"I can't speak more highly about any individual. He's an incredible guy. He's a brilliant guy. He's a wonderful person. I've seen him with his family. I've seen him with a lot of his children. He's got a lot of children. He treats him well. He loves his children, but he's a brilliant guy, and he was a tremendous help, both in the campaign and in what he's done with DOGE.

And you know what we're talking about, almost $200 million and rising fast, because many of the things that we were looking at are now being found out to be fact. It's terrible. I mean, the fraud, the waste, the abuse, everything that's happened is just terrible.

So I also know that he was treated very unfairly by the I guess he called the public, by some of the public, not by all of it. He makes an incredible car and everything he does is good, but they took it out on Tesla, and I just thought it was so unfair, because he's trying to help the country, but he has helped the country. I also want him to make sure that he's going to be in great shape, and I know he is. I mean, he's going to be, he's going to do great, he loves the country.

He didn't need to do this. He did it, and I told him, I said, you know, whenever you're ready, I'd like to keep him for a long time, but whenever you're ready, he's an exceptional that when you see those rockets go up and come back and land in the same gantry, nobody else can do that, but this man. So he's just an incredible person, and he's a friend of mine, and he's a nice person too.

He's a very nice person. He really helped the country. Saved us a lot of money. And I heard him say that he'll start easing which is always, he was always, at this time, going to ease out. And when he goes back to Tesla that will be taken care of, it was just, it's artificial.

These were sick people that thought they were doing something. He really, he's a great patriot, and he should, really, it should be, it shouldn't be the way that should never have happened to him. And I will tell you right now, he makes a great product. He makes a great product. It's a great car. It's great. Starlink is great. What he does is good. He's doing medical things that are amazing. And we have to, at some point, let him go and do that."