will step back in the coming weeks, has told insiders, including members of his cabinet. Three insiders told that, while the US president is pleased with the Tesla CEO's work, he is set to retreat from politics and

One revealed that he will likely be given a more informal role as an adviser, while another said people were "fooling themselves" if they think Mr Musk would disappear from the limelight entirely. Other insiders have reportedly grown tired of his unpredictability, now seeing him as a liability. Mr Trump has also been publicly sceptical of the - the brainchild of the world's richest man.

He said during a press briefing on Monday: "A lot of the people that are working with DOGE are the secretaries and heads of various agencies - and they've learned a lot and they're dealing with the DOGE people.

"I think some of them may try and keep the DOGE people with them. But, at a certain point, I think it will end."

The Republican then said of Mr Musk: "At some point Elon's gonna want to go back to his company. He wants to. I'd keep him as long as I can keep him - he's a very talented guy. You know I love very smart people. He's very smart and he's done a good job."

The insiders added that Mr Musk stepping back would likely coincide with his time as a "" coming to an end, as this was a 130-day period due to end in late May or early June.

However, the tech billionaire previously claimed to Fox News that he could stay on for another year.

DOGE is also not a government department - it is a temporary organisation that took over from the US Digital Service and its mandate is due to expire on July 4, 2026.

Former healthcare executive Amy Gleason was named as its acting , and she said Mr Musk does not work at the department.

She said in a court filing: "I do not report to him, and he does not report to me. To my knowledge, he is a senior adviser to the White House. Every member of the agency's DOGE team is an employee of the agency or a detailee to the agency."

However, this was later contradicted by the president, who said DOGE "is headed by Elon Musk".

This comes after shares in Mr Musk's Tesla plunged around 5% before the market opened on Wednesday, and sales dropped by 13%.

The electric car company reported deliveries of 336,681 vehicles globally between January and March 2025, lower than analyst predictions, with FactSet expecting around 408,000 deliveries over the period.

The total number of deliveries was also down on the 387,000 vehicles sold over the same period last year.

Previous analysis from the revealed Tesla sales fell by a whopping 49% in Europe alone over the first two months of the quarter, despite a 28% growth in electric car sales across the continent.