*

Musk's time as DOGE head comes to an end

*

Trump says Elon is 'very special'

*

Musk fell far short of making massive savings he promised

(New throughout with details, quotes from Oval Office

appearance, background on DOGE)

By Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald

Trump said on Friday that billionaire Elon Musk will remain a

close adviser, even after the Tesla CEO departs the

administration following a chaotic four-month tenure that saw

him disrupt dozens of foreign agencies in his effort to slash

government spending.

During a joint press conference in the Oval Office, Trump

lauded Musk and defended his cost-cutting campaign as the head

of the Department of Governmental Efficiency. The group has

eliminated thousands of jobs and canceled billions of dollars in

spending - including the majority of U.S. foreign aid - but has

thus far fallen far short of Musk's lofty initial promises.

"Elon is really not leaving. He's going to be back and

forth," Trump said from behind the Resolute Desk, as Musk stood

to his right, wearing a black DOGE hat and a T-shirt that read

"The Dogefather" in the style of the movie "The Godfather."

The press conference appeared aimed at showing unity after

Musk prompted frustration among White House officials this week

by criticizing Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill as too

expensive. Some senior aides, including Deputy Chief of Staff

Stephen Miller and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, saw Musk's

remarks on the tax bill as an open break from the

administration, with Miller particularly irked by the comments,

a source familiar with the matter said.

Trump gave Musk a large golden key inside a wooden box

bearing his signature, a gift he said he reserved only for "very

special people." Musk, in turn, admired the gold finishings that

Trump has installed around the Oval Office.

The White House and senior aides had insisted earlier in

Trump's term that Musk, the world's richest man, was a key

figure who wasn't going anywhere.

But more recently, they began pointing to the expiration of

his 130-day mandate as a special government employee, which was

set to end around May 30, as a natural endpoint.

Musk, meanwhile, has said he intends to devote most of his

energy to his business empire, including Tesla and SpaceX, after

some investors expressed concern that DOGE was occupying too

much of his time.

He has also said he plans to ratchet back his political

donations, after he spent nearly $300 million backing Trump's

presidential campaign and those of other Republicans in 2024.

But he told reporters on Friday that he would continue to be

part of Trump's circle of advisers.

"I expect to remain a friend and an adviser, and certainly,

if there's anything the president wants me to do, I'm at the

president's service," he said.

CUTS FALL SHORT

Musk initially claimed DOGE would slash at least $2 trillion

in federal spending. Four months into its efforts, DOGE now

estimates it has saved $175 billion.

But the details it has posted on its website, where it gives

the only public accounting of those changes, add up to less than

half of that figure.

U.S. Treasury summaries reviewed by Reuters show that the

agencies targeted by DOGE have cut about $19 billion in combined

spending compared to the same period last year, far below Musk's

original target and amounting to just about 0.5% of total

federal expenditures.

Trump and DOGE have managed to cut nearly 12%, or 260,000,

of the 2.3 million-strong federal civilian workforce largely

through threats of firings, buyouts and early retirement offers,

a Reuters review of agency departures found.

Musk's prominent status as the face of DOGE's cost-cutting

efforts has prompted widespread protests at Tesla outlets in the

U.S. and Europe, driving down both its sales and its stock

price.

Musk said on Friday that downsizing the government had

proven more difficult than he expected, blaming what he called

the "banal evil of bureaucracy." But he also expressed

confidence that DOGE would eventually achieve much deeper

savings.

"This is not the end of DOGE but really the beginning," he

said.