Trump gives Elon Musk an Oval Office sendoff, crediting him with 'colossal change'

Elon Musk was in the Oval Office today for an event marking the official end of his time as a special government employee. President Trump hosting the world's richest man to talk about his work overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency and what comes next for that controversial agency. ABC's Cristian Cordderero with the latest now. Thank you, Elon. Take care of yourself. Today, after reaching his 130day limit as a special government employee, Elon Musk is out of the White House. Elon gave an incredible service. nobody like him and uh he had to go through uh the slings and the arrows which is a shame because he's an incredible patriot. Musk endorsed and bankrolled candidate Trump last summer vowing to cut federal spending by $2 trillion. This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy. His department of government efficiencies takeover of various government agencies upended the federal workforce. In the end, more than $270,000 government employees let go. Several agencies shuttered altogether, but Musk fell well short of his two trillion dollar promise. ABC News estimates his cuts amounted to 175 billion. I think uh the Doge team is doing an incredible job. They're going to continue doing an incredible job. The richest man in the world and President Trump stood lock step through most of the turbulence until this week when Musk criticized Trump's moves on tariffs, then on CBS distanced himself from Trump's so-called big beautiful bill. I was like disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not doesn't decrease it, and undermines the work that the Doge team is doing. The spending bill, which Republicans just passed through the House, promises to slash federal spending by $1.5 trillion dollar with major cuts to Medicaid, health care, and food assistance programs for the poor. But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will add $3.8 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade. Tesla's stock rose as soon as Musk left the government after big losses in the first quarter and as Musk was facing pressure from shareholders to focus on his core business. in Washington. Cristian Corddero, Channel 6 Action News.