Trump posts video thanking Elon Musk as billionaire ends White House tenure

The Trump White House released a video on Friday marking the end of Elon Musk’s time working with the administration. The billionaire has been leading the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) since January.

The video, which was posted on multiple social media platforms, is a highlight reel, starting with Musk’s endorsement of President Donald Trump in July 2024, just after the then-candidate was nearly assassinated, and goes up to his last day in D.C. 

Elon Musk receives a golden key from U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., May 30, 2025.  (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

WHITE HOUSE DISCLOSES WHO WILL LEAD DOGE EFFORTS AFTER MUSK’S DEPARTURE

In addition to the video, the White House published several posts on X thanking Musk for his service, including a list of “DOGE Wins,” which include saving American taxpayers $170 billion, canceling approximately 523,000 active U.S. government credit cards/accounts it uncovered in an audit, cleaning up records at the Social Security Administration, among other initiatives.

During a joint news conference on Friday, Trump awarded Musk a “key to the White House.” The White House quoted the president as saying that “Elon’s delivered a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington… Elon Musk’s service to America has been without comparison in modern history.”

Elon Musk holds the key to the White House, a gift received from U.S. President Donald Trump, at a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., May 30, 2025.  (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

WHAT’S NEXT FOR DOGE AFTER ELON MUSK’S DEPARTURE? ‘ONLY JUST BEGUN’

Another Republican leader joined Trump in recognizing the changes Musk worked to implement in Washington.

House Speaker Mike Johnson thanked Musk for his “selfless, patriotic service” and praised both the billionaire and DOGE, saying they “dug through the bureaucracy and shined a light on MASSIVE waste, fraud, and abuse.”

“They have saved the American people BILLIONS of dollars, and are updating old and inefficient systems across the federal government — all while providing Republicans with a list of targets of pointless programs that Congressional action will address.”

MUSK OFFICIALLY STEPS DOWN FROM DOGE AFTER WRAPPING WORK STREAMLINING GOVERNMENT

U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., May 30, 2025. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

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While some wonder about the future of DOGE, the Trump administration is insisting that the department will go on without Musk at the helm. The Tesla founder addressed this question as well just as Trump marked 100 days in office. He told a small group of reporters that “DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism. You wouldn’t ask who would lead Buddhism. Is Buddha needed for Buddhism?”

A few days before the end of his White House tenure, Musk vowed in a post on X to go “back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms,” a big switch from the Lincoln Bedroom, where the billionaire allegedly slept multiple times. However, Trump teased that even though it was Musk’s last day, it wasn’t “really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way.”