INTERNACIONAL
Elon Musk’s official role at Trump’s DOGE ends, but his political impact lingers ahead of midterms
As Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, put it, his role in steering President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has come «to an end.»
However, the president, in a social media post on Thursday night announcing that he and Musk would team up for a 1:30 p.m. ET White House news conference on Friday, teased that Musk would continue to help the Trump administration.
«This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific!» he wrote.
Musk’s political impact on national politics and on next year’s midterm elections — for better or for worse — is far from over and is likely to live on well past his official departure from the Trump administration.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR DOGE AFTER ELON MUSK’S DEPARTURE
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, announced this week that his role in steering President Donald Trump’s DOGE has come «to an end.» (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump, after winning back the White House in last November’s election, created DOGE with marching orders to overhaul and downsize the federal government. Trump named Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX and Trump’s biggest political donor in the 2024 election, to steer the organization.
«Elon Musk made the most serious attempt at reducing the size and scope of government in modern political history. It was at times chaotic but impactful,» veteran GOP strategist Ryan Williams told Fox News.
Williams predicted that Musk’s «efforts will continue to linger as a political football, but also a guide for Republicans if they’re serious about limiting the growth of the federal government.»
After returning to the White House in January, Musk and DOGE quickly swept through federal agencies, rooting out what the new administration argued was billions in wasteful federal spending. Additionally, they took a meat cleaver to the federal workforce, resulting in a massive downsizing of employees.
Nothing symbolized Musk’s controversial moves more than his brandishing of a chainsaw during a February appearance at the MAGA-dominated Conservative Political Action Conference, where he touted «how easy» it was to «save billions of dollars sometimes in… an hour.»
The moves by DOGE grabbed tons of national attention and triggered a slew of lawsuits in response. Many of DOGE’s cuts in government staffing were stymied or reversed by federal court orders.
While DOGE was originally tasked with slashing $2 trillion from the federal government’s budget, the DOGE website earlier this week said that its efforts to date had led to roughly $175 billion in savings due to asset sales, contract cancellations, fraud payment cuts, in addition to other steps to eliminate costs.
MUSK CRITICISM OF TRUMP’S ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ FRUSTRATES SOME REPUBLICANS
Musk’s arrival in the nation’s capital came with a bang.
Thanks to a direct pipeline to the president and his powerful mouthpiece on the social media site X, Musk instantly and repeatedly made headlines with his provocative moves and the targeting of people he did not like, often to the chagrin of Trump administration officials and Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Trump repeatedly praised Musk and DOGE’s efforts.
«The vast majority of people in this country really respect and appreciate you, and this whole room can say that very strongly; you have really been a tremendous help,» the president said during a Cabinet meeting four weeks ago, when Musk announced that he would be cutting back on his time spent with DOGE and the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump, right, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a special advisor to the president, speak to reporters near a red Model S Tesla vehicle on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 11. (Pool via AP )
However, behind the scenes, there was a lot less harmony.
«People got really sick of him really quickly,» a veteran Republican strategist with ties to the administration and Capitol Hill who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News.
«He was fun to begin with,» the strategist noted, before adding that «people inside and around the administration and people outside» were tired of Musk «by the end, when he’s sitting in a meeting wearing multiple hats on his head.»
Additionally, Musk’s recent criticism of Trump’s sweeping «big beautiful bill,» which passed a major congressional hurdle, did not help matters.
While a slew of public opinion polls, including national surveys from Fox News, indicated that Americans like the idea of downsizing the federal government, those same surveys highlighted that the public was far from thrilled with how Musk and DOGE carried out cuts to the federal bureaucracy.
WHITE HOUSE REVEALS NEXT STEPS FOR DOGE AFTER MUSK DEPARTURE
Musk, who spent nearly $300 million in support of Trump’s 2024 White House victory, quickly became a lightning rod in the handful of off-year and special elections held early this year.
Through aligned political groups, Musk dished out roughly $20 million in battleground Wisconsin’s high-profile state Supreme Court race, in support of Trump-backed judge Brad Schimel, the conservative-leaning candidate in the election.
Musk, in a controversial move, handed out $1 million checks at a rally in Green Bay two nights ahead of the election to two Wisconsin voters who had already cast ballots in the contest and had signed a petition to stop «activist judges.»
Billionaire businessman Elon Musk arrives for a town hall wearing a cheesehead hat in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on March 30. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Musk, at the rally, donned a cheesehead hat — a foam wedge which resembles a chunk of cheese — that is traditionally worn by devout Green Bay Packers football fans in Wisconsin and across the country.
However, Schimel ended up losing by 10 points to the Democratic-aligned candidate in what was supposed to be a close contest. Musk ended up getting tagged with plenty of blame in a race that partially turned into a referendum on his efforts at DOGE.
TOP FIVE WILDEST MOMENTS OF MUSK’S DOGE TENURE
Democrats repeatedly made Musk the bogeyman in their messaging in Wisconsin’s election and in other contests, and they pledged to continue to target him heading into next year’s midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending their razor-thin House majority and their modest Senate majority.
«Top of mind for voters are the pocketbook issues. Democrats are going to win by highlighting the fact that Republicans are failing at lowering costs because they are too busy pushing tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations, while making the rest of us pay for them,» Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee national press secretary Viet Shelton told Fox News.
Shelton emphasized that «Elon is, and forever will be, an instantly-recognizable manifestation of the fact that House Republicans don’t work for the American people, they work for the billionaires.»
So, were Musk’s potential political risks to Republicans behind his departure from the nation’s capitol?
A GOP strategist close to GOP lawmakers, when asked if Musk’s welcome was wearing out among congressional Republicans, said «yes to a point.»
«But I think the larger question about whether Musk and DOGE are liabilities in the midterms, I would say emphatically no,» added the strategist, who asked for anonymity to speak more freely.
The strategist noted that GOP lawmakers «who have talked about waste, fraud, and abuse, and have talked about the savings generated by DOGE, they’ve done quite well. It’s the folks who don’t want to message on it and have not put Democrats on defense, who are tired of Musk.»
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Additionally, veteran Republican strategist Matt Gorman disagrees with the Democrats’ argument about Musk’s lasting impact on the campaign trail.
«I don’t think that in any way Elon Musk will be a factor one way or another in the year-plus that we have until Election Day 2026,» Gorman, a veteran of numerous presidential and statewide campaigns, told Fox News.
Politics,Elections,Elon Musk,Donald Trump,DOGE,Republicans,Democratic Party,Congress
INTERNACIONAL
EEUU afirmó que la vía diplomática con Irán sigue abierta y que los bombardeos no excluyen un posible acuerdo futuro
La Casa Blanca afirmó este jueves que mantiene abierta la comunicación con Irán y que la relación bilateral continúa en “una vía diplomática”, en medio de tensiones provocadas por recientes bombardeos del ejército estadounidense contra instalaciones nucleares iraníes el pasado fin de semana. Así lo expresó la portavoz Karoline Leavitt durante una rueda de prensa, al referirse a los intentos de Washington de alcanzar acuerdos tras la ofensiva militar.
“El presidente Donald Trump quiere la paz, siempre la ha querido, y ahora mismo estamos en una vía diplomática con Irán. El presidente y su equipo, en particular el enviado especial para Oriente Medio, Steve Witkoff, siguen en comunicación con los iraníes”, afirmó Leavitt frente a periodistas.
El ataque del sábado por la noche tuvo como objetivo las plantas de enriquecimiento de uranio en Isfahan, Natanz y Fordow, según detalló la portavoz, quien subrayó que aunque existe disposición para dialogar, aún es temprano para definir una agenda concreta de contactos con Teherán.
Frente a las declaraciones del presidente estadounidense sobre eventuales acercamientos la próxima semana y la posibilidad de que un acuerdo ya no sea imprescindible tras los daños infligidos al programa atómico de Irán, Leavitt indicó que “acaban de realizar este ataque” y pidió paciencia antes de divulgar plazos oficiales.
Por su parte, el ministro de Asuntos Exteriores del régimen iraní, Abbas Araghchi, negó firmemente las especulaciones de que Irán se dispone a reanudar las negociaciones nucleares con Estados Unidos.
“Algunas especulaciones sobre la reanudación de las negociaciones no deben tomarse en serio”, dijo Araghchi en la televisión estatal. “Quiero dejar claro que no se ha llegado a ningún acuerdo, arreglo o conversación para iniciar nuevas negociaciones. Todavía no se ha establecido ningún plan para iniciar negociaciones”.
“No se ha llegado a ningún acuerdo o arreglo para reanudar las negociaciones. No se ha hecho ninguna promesa ni se ha mantenido ninguna discusión al respecto”, declaró Araghchi al canal estatal de noticias iraní IRINN.
“Hemos tenido una experiencia engorrosa con los estadounidenses: que traicionaron las negociaciones en mitad del proceso. Esta experiencia afectará sin duda a nuestras decisiones futuras. Pero esa decisión se tomará en última instancia en función del bienestar del pueblo iraní, no de las emociones ni de ninguna consideración superficial o temporal”, añadió.
Leavitt también informó que ha mantenido conversación “extensa” con Steve Witkoff y aseguró que la diplomacia estadounidense se coordina no solo con las autoridades iraníes, sino también con intermediarios claves como Qatar. Describió a la administración qatarí como un “aliado y socio increíble durante todo este proceso” y recordó que el emirato ha desempeñado un rol central como mediador, junto con Estados Unidos, entre Irán e Israel para propiciar el diálogo y promover un alto el fuego alcanzado el lunes.
Washington mantiene contacto constante con aliados en la región del Golfo Pérsico y el mundo árabe, en línea con los esfuerzos por consolidar “un acuerdo con Irán sobre la alianza con el Estado de Israel”, explicó Leavitt. Aseguró que la relación entre Washington y Tel Aviv “nunca ha sido tan fuerte” y resaltó la expectativa de que más Estados árabes se sumen a los Acuerdos de Abraham, iniciativas de normalización de relaciones diplomáticas con Israel ya adoptadas por Emiratos Árabes Unidos, Sudán, Baréin y Marruecos.
Por otra parte, la portavoz de la Casa Blanca también criticó al líder supremo iraní, el ayatollah Ali Khamenei, porque consideró que ejecuta una estrategia para “salvar las apariencias”, tras sus declaraciones públicas en las que minimizó el impacto de los bombardeos estadounidenses sobre las instalaciones nucleares. “Vimos el video del ayatollah, y cuando se tiene un régimen totalitario, hay que salvar las apariencias”, afirmó Leavitt en referencia a la postura del líder iraní, quien sostuvo que el presidente Trump “exageró” el daño logrado por la ofensiva militar.
El gobierno estadounidense sostiene que, pese a la escalada militar, continúa priorizando el entendimiento diplomático con Teherán y sus aliados regionales, considerando la persistente inestabilidad en el Medio Oriente y la búsqueda de nuevas fórmulas de cooperación.
(Con información de AFP y EFE)
North America,Government / Politics,Washington
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Those who leaked a preliminary assessment — rejected by the White House — on the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities will face justice for sharing the document, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
President Donald Trump and multiple leaders are saying that the strikes destroyed three Iranian nuclear sites.
A leaked report from the Defense Intelligence Agency, published by CNN and the New York Times, cast doubt on that though, saying that the strikes only set back Iran’s nuclear program by several months. CNN first reported the assessment’s findings, citing seven people who were briefed on the report. The outlet reported the findings were based on a battle damage assessment from U.S. Central Command.
Leavitt pushed back on the early assessment’s credibility, claiming the report was «flat-out wrong.»
«Everyone knows what happens when you drop 14 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration,» Leavitt said in a Tuesday statement.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the FBI is conducting an investigation to get to the bottom of the matter and who shared the document with the media.
TRUMP SLAMS RUSSIA’S CASUAL THREAT TO ARM IRAN WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS: ‘THAT’S WHY PUTIN’S THE BOSS’
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, Jun. 26, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)
Additionally, Leavitt told reporters that leaking classified information is a criminal offense and that those who fail to follow the law «need to be held accountable for that crime.»
«This administration wants to ensure that classified intelligence is not ending up in irresponsible hands, and that people who have the privilege of viewing this top secret classified information are being responsible with it,» Leavitt told reporters Thursday.
«Clearly, someone who had their hands on this and it was a very few people, very few number of people in our government who saw this report,» Leavitt said. «That person was irresponsible with it. And we need to get to the bottom of it. And we need to strengthen that process to protect our national security and protect the American public.»
Meanwhile, the U.S., Israel and Iran’s Foreign Ministry have all said that the three nuclear sites U.S. forces struck have encountered massive damage.
EX-CLINTON OFFICIAL APPLAUDS TRUMP’S ‘COURAGEOUS’ IRAN CALL, DOUBTS HARRIS WOULD’VE HAD THE NERVE
U.S. struck three nuclear sites in Iran Saturday. (Fox News)
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei told Al Jazeera Wednesday that the country’s nuclear facilities were «badly damaged,» and Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission said the U.S. strikes were «devastating.»
On Sunday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said that initial battle damage assessments suggest «all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.»
Trump issued a word of caution to Iran Wednesday, should it attempt to repair its nuclear program once more, and said the U.S. wouldn’t hesitate to launch another strike against Iran.
Trump personally called for the firing of one of the reporters who authored the story about the initial assessment, claiming in a Wednesday Truth Social post that the reporter should be «IMMEDIATELY reprimanded, and then thrown out ‘like a dog.’»
RUSSIAN LEADER CLAIMS MULTIPLE COUNTRIES PREPPED TO PROVIDE IRAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOLLOWING US STRIKES
Trump lashes out at Israel and Iran with profanity for breaking ceasefire Tuesday. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Even so, CNN came to the defense of the reporter, Natasha Bertrand.
«We stand 100% behind Natasha Bertrand’s journalism and specifically her and her colleagues’ reporting of the early intelligence assessment of the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities,» CNN said in a Wednesday statement. «CNN’s reporting made clear that this was an initial finding that could change with additional intelligence. We have extensively covered President Trump’s own deep skepticism about it.»
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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