Elon Musk's whirlwind government career is coming to an end in the near future, President Trump said. 

Speaking with reporters Monday, Trump said Musk's work as the head of DOGE is nearly complete. The president said he is reluctant to part ways with the "very talented" Tesla CEO, one of Trump's closest and most public advisers since his historic return to power in January.

"I think he's amazing, but I also think he's got a big company to run, and so at some point he's going to be going back,” Trump told reporters. “Oh, I’d keep him as long as I could keep him. He's a very talented guy … he's done a good job."

Trump: DOGE ending

Trump lavished praise on DOGE's work and suggested DOGE could soon hand over its work to the heads of federal agencies, who have "learned a lot" over the past few months.

"You know, DOGE is, we found numbers that nobody can even believe, like $400 billion, $500 billion — it could be close to a trillion dollars by the time they end on different things.”

“[But] I can say this: that a lot of the people that are working with DOGE are the secretaries, you know, the heads of the various agencies, and they've learned a lot, and they're dealing with the DOGE people,” he continued.

“I think some of them may try and keep the DOGE people with them, but, you know, at some point, I think it will end, but they have also gotten a big education, and they're doing a really good job. There will be a point at which the secretaries will be able to do this work and do it very, you know, as we say, with the scalpel,” Trump said.

Goal of cutting $1 trillion

Trump created DOGE with an executive order in January, tapping Musk to lead a wide-ranging initiative to cut waste and fraud in the federal government. Musk set an ambitious goal of slashing $1 trillion.

Musk is considered a special government employee, a status that imposes a 130-day limit on his time in government. In a recent interview discussing DOGE with Fox News' Brett Baier, Musk suggested he would step aside soon, predicting DOGE is on track to meet its goal within 130 days.

"I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame,” Musk said.

Musk defends DOGE's work

Since he began his close collaboration with the president, Musk has been a focal point of opposition to the second Trump administration, with the Tesla CEO arguably receiving more criticism than Trump himself at times.

The tech titan's unelected role has faced criticism from Democrats, who have accused Trump of empowering an "oligarchy" that caters to the super-rich.

But Musk has defended DOGE's work as necessary to save the country from fiscal calamity.

"The country is going bankrupt. A country is no different from a person. If a country overspends and doesn't spend wisely, just like a person, a country will go bankrupt," he told Fox News' Sean Hannity in a recent interview.

While many Americans believe Musk's reforms are long overdue, a leftist backlash against DOGE has turned violent. The Trump administration has pledged to hunt down "domestic terrorists" who have been vandalizing Tesla property across the country.