He has been glued to Donald Trump’s side since he declared his support for the Republican leader in the wake of his first assassination attempt – and funnelled more than $260 million into his re-election efforts.

But Elon Musk has finally stepped away from his role as Mr Trump’s “first buddy” after four months spent slashing federal spending, shuttering USAid and firing thousands of workers.

The billionaire is leaving the administration , and his role at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), the newly created agency to root out government waste.

Days after he publicly broke with Mr Trump to criticise the US president’s spending plan , claiming it “undermines” the work he had been doing with Doge, Mr Musk said his “scheduled time” in the government had come to

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