Personnel upheaval at the White House, Musk bids farewell while wearing two hats.

Original author: Jin Yan

Reprint: Lawrence

On May 1st, Thursday local time, U.S. media reported that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is about to resign, being appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, leaving a vacancy that will be filled by Secretary of State Rubio. Waltz's deputy, Alex Wong, will also resign; he assisted in arranging the summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and is one of the few senior officials with practical diplomatic experience in East Asia. U.S. President Trump's Middle East envoy, Wittekopf, is considering succeeding Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor, but no decision has been made yet.

Trump's first term was characterized by frequent personnel changes at high levels, but during his second term, he did not make his first major personnel change until he had been in the White House for a hundred days. The National Security Council (NSC) is the core institution through which U.S. presidents formulate and coordinate security policies, and its members often make key decisions on global hotspot conflicts. Bolton is seen as a staunch supporter of traditional security alliances (such as NATO) and is also considered a more moderate voice within the Trump administration that advocates for external coordination. This personnel change came very suddenly, with U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce learning about it from reporters during the briefing that day.

At the same time, Elon Musk, the global billionaire business tycoon who once dominated the spotlight at the beginning of the year, has quietly lost his influence and has been pushed out of the core decision-making circle. On Wednesday, April 30 local time, Musk declared at a White House meeting that his Government Efficiency Department (DOGE) has so far saved $160 billion in spending. This is far from the "at least $2 trillion" reduction he promised last autumn.

According to statistics from certain institutions, "layoffs, rehires, productivity losses, and paid leave for thousands of workers related to DOGE will cost over $135 billion this fiscal year," which means that the DOGE project may actually lead to an increase in net government spending.

Double elimination

Elon Musk supported Trump's election with campaign funds reaching nine figures, thereby playing a particularly special role in the Trump administration. He not only frequently participated in phone consultations with foreign heads of state but also hosted high-level meetings at the Pentagon and NSA, and even spoke directly with Indian Prime Minister Modi. Now, Trump's right-hand men are gradually taking shape, including trade advisor Navarro, who has risen to become a key figure in the Trump administration, as no one dares to directly challenge his views, allowing Navarro to hold a rare "one-man rule" status; another is Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, whose influence has grown as Trump's policies have shaken the dollar's supremacy, leading to a wave of "sell America" sentiments. Musk has clashed fiercely with these two major figures in the White House. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Musk exchanged "foul language" outside the Oval Office; Musk called Navarro an "idiot" on social media platform X.

American media reports that the first female White House Chief of Staff, Wiles, played an important role in Musk's exit. She believes that Musk's presence in the White House would threaten the collaborative spirit she wants to establish. Her struggle significantly reduced Musk's chances of appearing in the West Wing of the White House, ultimately leading to his fading out.

On April 30, Musk wore two hats during a cabinet meeting at the White House: one was a red "Make America Great Again" hat favored by Trump, and the other was a DOGE hat. Musk repeatedly changed hats during the meeting and ultimately decided to wear both hats stacked on top of each other. At this moment, Musk, who wants to navigate both politics and business with the two hats, is facing a double exit outcome.

Musk's formal position in the cabinet will end around May 30, after which he will serve as an informal advisor. Additionally, due to the decline in the stock price of the American car manufacturer Tesla and some investors' dissatisfaction with Musk's deep involvement in politics, the Tesla board has begun to seriously consider finding a successor to Musk. Although Tesla subsequently rarely publicly denied this, Musk becoming a liability for Tesla has already caused the company's revenue in the first quarter to decline by 9% year-on-year, automotive business revenue to decrease by 20% year-on-year, and net profit to plummet by 71% year-on-year.

Recently, Musk told investors during the Tesla earnings call that starting in May, he would significantly reduce his working hours on DOGE and refocus on Tesla's work. The Tesla brand has been severely damaged due to Musk's political work and is facing performance challenges — both sales and performance are declining sharply. A nameless employee from the government's efficiency department told Caijing that Musk had previously led a request stating that government employees must work 40 hours a week in the office, or they would lose their jobs. This is because they found that basically, 10 U.S. government employees can accomplish the work of one person. Musk chose to go to war with the large group of government employees, and this interest group has vented all its dissatisfaction on Musk.

Elon Musk is regarded as the soul of Tesla. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives once said, "Tesla is Musk, and Musk is Tesla." However, Tesla is currently facing significant challenges, including an aging product line, increasing competition from China, the DOGE movement, and the political backlash it has triggered, all contributing to a decline in both product demand and profits.

Recently, Musk's rocket and satellite company is collaborating with software manufacturer Palantir and drone manufacturer Anduril to bid on key components of the "Golden Dome" project, which has attracted significant interest from rapidly growing defense startups in the tech industry. Reports indicate that Musk's SpaceX and the two partners are likely to win the bid for key components of President Trump's "Golden Dome" missile defense system. However, 42 Democratic lawmakers have called for an examination of Musk's role in the bidding process for this missile defense system.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has garnered significant attention. SpaceX and two partners are expected to win the bid for a key component of President Trump's "Golden Dome" missile defense system. Photo by Jin Yan.

Personnel turmoil

In March of this year, Walz came under close scrutiny for inadvertently adding Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic to a group chat on Signal. Goldberg revealed that Walz had discussions with senior national security officials about plans for military strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. After Walz privately acknowledged the accuracy of the reporting, White House officials debated whether he should resign, but Walz never offered to resign, and Trump did not call for his resignation at the time. Trump publicly expressed support for Walz, calling him "a good man" and stating that he had "learned his lesson."

Waltz's departure marks the end of a month-long personnel turmoil within Trump's National Security Agency. Since April 1, the U.S. National Security Council has fired at least 20 members, leading to severe personnel shortages in several key departments. According to insiders, the actual number of layoffs exceeds previous reports, causing some critical national security agencies to face staffing shortages.

The layoff action was initiated after conservative commentator Laura Loomer submitted a list of officials deemed "disloyal" to President Trump, resulting in approximately 15 people being dismissed in the first week, with the layoff process still ongoing. Media reports indicate that several key departments within the NSC are currently facing near paralysis, including teams responsible for Latin American policy, international organization affairs, and legislative affairs.

Additionally, on April 18, the U.S. Department of Defense fired three senior officials who were accused of "unauthorized disclosure of national security information." The three officials subsequently issued a joint statement vigorously denying the allegations and accusing the Pentagon of "baseless defamation." The U.S. Department of Defense had previously initiated investigations into multiple "leak incidents" to determine how sensitive information regarding the deployment of the U.S. Navy's second aircraft carrier to the Red Sea, military plans targeting the Panama Canal, the visit of "Government Efficiency Department" head Musk to the Pentagon, and the U.S. suspension of intelligence gathering for Ukraine was exposed by the media.

The U.S. Department of Defense has launched an investigation into multiple "leak incidents." Photo by Jin Yan

After Trump returned to the White House, the Pentagon has conducted a "purge" of senior officials, firing high-ranking officials such as Charles Brown, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff appointed by the Biden administration, in February.

These cleaning actions have severely impacted the morale of certain departments within the national security agencies. The officials also added that some government departments lack relevant national security expertise, making it difficult in some cases to attract senior talent.