Trump is inaugurated, and Musk is accused of performing a Nazi-style salute on stage, twice.

Trump signs an Executive Order creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), renaming the United States Digital Service Agency, which previously handled government technology issues.

The Order is a vague mandate to modernize government technology and increase government efficiency. In the coming weeks, Musk’s intention becomes more clear, and it reaches far beyond the bounds thought possible.

DOGE and Musk begin to question federal employees and gain access to government systems and data at different agencies.

Close to 2 million government workers receive an email titled “Fork in the Road” that offers a buy-out and encourages employees to take it.

Emails contain an ominous message: “What did you accomplish this week?”

Musk says he “deleted” a key government software creator, the GSA 18F office. The developer is in part responsible for the software behind the IRS’s free tax filing service.

“I think we do need to delete entire agencies as opposed to [leaving] a lot of them behind,” Musk said to attendees at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. “If we don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back.”

A protest at a New York City Tesla dealership ends with nine arrests. Across the country, protestors criticize Musk’s policies and role in government through protests and boycotts of Tesla, Musk’s electric vehicle company.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference, Musk wears MAGA merchandise and wields a chainsaw onstage. The tool is a gift from right-wing Argentinian president Javier Milei.

“This chainsaw is for bureaucracy!” he says. “I am become meme.” We don’t know what this means either. But it definitely became a meme.

Employees who worked at the General Services Administration’s 18F unit are laid off en masse, notified in the middle of the night. This division of tech specialists is responsible for fixing technical problems and building products to increase government agencies’ efficiency.

Court cases filed earlier in the year begin to produce rulings that curtail layoffs and limit DOGE’s access to data, including at agencies like the Social Security Administration. The Trump Administration is required to reinstate probationary workers, and Musk’s team is ordered to turn over internal records they had been aiming to keep private.

Also, Tesla stocks are falling at a concerning rate. Trump and others create sales pitches for the company. Trump appears in front of several parked Teslas at the White House, telling reporters he plans to buy one while praising Musk as a “patriot.”

The Department of Health and Human Services announces a cut of 10,000 jobs to align with a Trump Executive Order. Several days later, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admits that close to 2,000 workers were fired in error and needed to be reinstated.

Musk posts on X, attacking the judicial system and demanding that lawmakers “impeach the judges.” He claims that there is a “judicial coup” against Trump.

Musk also gives a voice to far-right influencers saying the United States should emulate El Salvador president Nayib Bukele, whose party pushed out court judges in 2021.

Thousands of people gather at showrooms and dealerships across the world in one day of action. Some protestors vandalize buildings with Molotov cocktails and intentional arson.

Musk and Trump call the attacks instances of domestic terrorism, and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi vows to crack down on vandalism.

Susan Crawford, a Democrat who ran for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, won the election despite Musk’s expenditure of over $20 million on the race, including a chaotic giveaway of $1 million checks on stage.

Tesla’s earnings call reveals a 71% drop in profits for the first quarter of 2025, as well as a 9% drop in revenue year-over-year.

Musk announces that he will scale back his role in DOGE and the federal government, and spend more time on his own businesses starting in May.

Musk enjoys a round of applause from Trump’s Cabinet before he steps away from DOGE.

Signaling his departure from Trump, Musk announces in an interview with CBS News that he is “disappointed” in the Trump-backed “big, beautiful bill” because it doesn’t cut enough on domestic policy.

Musk officially exits his government role, capping off 130 days near the top of the federal government.

Musk posts on X about the spending bill that narrowly cleared the House in May, calling it “massive,” “outrageous,” “pork-filled” and a “disgusting abomination.”

“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

Republicans in the Senate can only afford to lose three votes in order to pass the spending bill, and the post has government lawmakers who support the bill concerned.

Trump tells reporters that he is “very disappointed” in Musk after he publicly criticized the spending bill over predictions that it would add to the government deficit. Trump also calls Musk “hostile,” and says he thinks it’s because he misses being involved in the Trump Administration.

Musk fires back in a post on X, saying, “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”

Elon continually fires back at Trump, reposting memes of the current president and interviews he gave years ago refuting Trump’s claim that he was angry about his loss of the EV tax credit for Tesla.

Thursday afternoon, Musk posts on X alleging that the infamous Jeffrey Epstein files concerning sex trafficking and child sexual abuse include mentions of Trump. The post has now been deleted, but Musk said, “@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”

Currently, only some of the files have been unsealed, and Musk claims Trump is behind it in the X post.

Musk has cooled off on X, and on Thursday backed off of a threat to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, a vital piece of equipment used to transport NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station. To an X post from billionaire Bill Ackman saying that Trump and Musk should “make peace,” Musk replies, “You’re not wrong.”

Trump is rumored to be selling the Tesla he bought back in March when Tesla’s numbers were in a downward spiral and does not seem to be planning on making amends.

Between Trump’s threats to end Musk’s government contracts and Musk’s insults of Trump on his platform X, this is drama worthy of its own season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. And really, is the Executive Branch where we should be getting our doses of internet backstabbing and betrayal?