How far is Silicon Valley from the White House? In miles, about 2,800-odd. But as Elon Musk’s departure from the Donald Trump administration this week suggests, according to other metrics — such as ease of navigation — they are separated by light years. Musk, as head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), declared with corporate-style bombast that he would  slash federal spending by “at least $2 trillion”. By the end of his 129-day tenure, the claims disappeared in a whimper. An analysis of the “wall of receipts” and the other data available on DOGE’s website by BBC Verify revealed that “only about half of these… had a link to … evidence.” Turns out running a country is not the same as running a company.

The Trump-Musk bromance made sense — but only to a point. Two massively rich businessmen, both with “main character” energy, came together to “drain the swamp” of Washington, DC. Like any good bromance, it offered a memorable set of images: A chainsaw-wielding Musk, boasting about “slashing” budgets; Musk toting his son to official events at the Oval Office with Trump; the President boosting the First Buddy’s electric car company on the White House lawn. Yet, the relationship seems to have brought both parties bad fortune. The US government could soon be footing a long legal bill for the layoffs and Musk’s company, Tesla, has taken a massive hit in sales.