Donald Trump gives Elon Musk an Oval Office farewell, says their friendship is 'truly special'

"It was always a limited-term assignment," Musk said at the farewell press conference on Friday.

He now aims to focus more on his businesses, which include the world's leading private Space firm SpaceX, and his electric vehicle maker, Tesla.

Trump thanked him and showered heaps of praise on the DOGE chief. "What Elon has done for America hasn't been done in generations - his contributions are historic."

The President described his friendship with Musk as "truly special".

Musk, who was seen wearing a t-shirt that read 'The Dogefather', said: "I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job. They’re going to continue to be doing an incredible job.”

Earlier, Musk announced his exit from the Trump-led White House after a controversial 130-day tenure when he launched a drive to massively downsize the US government by razing thousands of federal jobs.

Amid reports of his differences with Donald Trump's policies, Musk posted on X: "As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump  for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending. The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."

According to media reports, the White House started "offboarding" Musk as a special government employee.

Of late, Musk has devoted less time to government work and has gone back to focusing on his companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, which suffered from Musk’s allegiance to the Trump administration.

Earlier, in an interview with CBS, Elon Musk said he was "disappointed" with President Trump's bill that pushes for a massive spending package, including multi-trillion-dollar tax breaks, stating that doing so will only "increase the budget deficit".

Speaking to CBS, Musk, once an avid supporter of Trump's policies, described it as a “massive spending bill” that increases the federal deficit and “undermines the work” of the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.

"I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk, who recently stepped back from running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said.

“I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful. But I don’t know if it could be both,” he said.

Musk's interview with CBS came out Tuesday night.