ELON Musk has said the time he spends with Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) will “drop significantly” from May as he looks to allocate more time to Tesla.
It comes after the company reported a big drop in first-quarter profit as it faces global protests over the far-right billionaire's leadership of the federal government jobs-cutting group.
Tesla, based in Austin, Texas, said on Tuesday that quarterly profits fell by 71% to to $409 million (£308m), or 12 cents a share – far below analyst estimates. Revenue fell 9% to $19.3 billion (£14.5bn) in the January-March period, below Wall Street’s forecast.
Tesla’s stock has fallen more than 40% this year but rose slightly in after-hours trading.
The company is struggling to sell cars to consumers angry over Musk’s role in the Trump administration.
Musk has also publicly supported far-right politicians in Europe and alienated potential buyers there.
The National has reported on protests against Musk and Tesla taking place across the world. Earlier this month, more than 1000 protests against Trump and Musk took place in the US in a single day.
During the recess at Westminster, an anti-Musk protest calling for wealth taxes on the super rich was projected onto the Houses of Parliament.
And in Wales, the "world's biggest anti-Elon Musk protest" was staged on a beach as campaign group Led By Donkeys used a Tesla to rake out the words "DON'T BUY A TESLA" alongside an image of Musk giving a "Nazi salute".
The protest was in reference to when Musk made potential "Heil Hitler" salutes during Trump's inauguration in January.
The salute has since been repeated by multiple notable figures on the right, including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and former GB News host Calvin Robinson.
Elon Musk too 'distracted' by Doge
Some investors have complained Musk is too distracted by his role at Doge to be running Tesla and that he should either relinquish his position as CEO or abandon his advisory role in Washington.
Investors expect Tesla will be damaged less by the Trump administration’s tariffs than most US car companies because it makes most of its US cars domestically, but Tesla will not be completely unscathed because it sources some materials for its vehicles from abroad that will now face import taxes.
Tesla warned that tariffs will hit its energy storage business too.
“While the current tariff landscape will have a relatively larger impact on our energy business compared to automotive,” the company said, “we are taking actions to stabilise the business in the medium to long term and focus on maintaining its health.”
Retaliation from China will also damage Tesla. The company was forced earlier this month to stop taking orders from mainland customers for two models, its Model S and Model X. It makes the Model Y and Model 3 for the Chinese market at its factory in Shanghai.
The company side business of selling “regulatory credits” to other car makers that fall short of emission standards boosted results for the quarter.
The company generated $595m (£448m) from credit sales, up from $442m dollars (£333m) a year ago.
