Is Elon Musk leaving Doge? What did he say, has billionaire been fired - as Tesla profits plunge amid White House backlash

The company has faced a backlash and angry protests over his leadership of a federal government jobs-cutting group that has divided the country. Tesla, based in Austin, Texas, said on Tuesday that quarterly profits fell by 71% to to 409 million dollars (£308 million), or 12 cents a share – far below analyst estimates. Revenue fell 9% to 19.3 billion dollars (£14.5 billion) in the January-March period, below Wall Street’s forecast.

Tesla’s stock has fallen more than 40% this year but rose slightly in after-hours trading. The disappointing results come as the company struggles to sell cars to consumers angry over Mr Musk’s role in the Trump administration. He has also publicly supported far-right politicians in Europe and alienated potential buyers there.

Some investors have complained he is too distracted by his role at the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) to be running Tesla and that he should either relinquish his position as CEO or abandon his advisory role in Washington. Elon Musk said he will step back from the White House DOGE office after spending three months trying to radically reshape the federal government and its workforce.

He said: "Starting next month, I will be allocating far more of my time to Tesla”. He added that "the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency" was done. He said he'll continue to spend a day or two a week on government matters, "as long as it is useful," and the president wants him to do so.

Tesla investors will be listening closely for updates on several strategic initiatives. The company is expected to roll out a cheaper version of its best-selling vehicle, the Model Y SUV later in the year.

Tesla has also said it plans to start a paid driverless robotaxi service in Austin in June. Its closely watched gross margins, a measure of earnings for each dollar of revenue, fell to 16.3% from 17.4%.