While Musk remains close to President Donald Trump, his “decision to focus elsewhere has been greeted as a relief by many federal leaders, who have been busily undoing many of his cuts in their departments or making DOGE-style changes on their own terms,” The Atlantic’s Michael Scherer and Ashley Parker reported.

Yes, cutting back on campaign spending is a concrete, measurable change in his political profile.

“In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Musk said at the forum.