Where In The World is Elon Musk? Internet Debates Whereabouts As DOGE Role Fades

Elon Musk dominated headlines almost daily during the first months of President Donald Trump's second term, but his presence in the public conversation has been noticeably lower during the past weeks.

Some attributed the change to the intense backlash Musk received as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as well as his confrontative approach to detractors. In April, the Tesla CEO stated he anticipated "allocating far more of my time to Tesla" after its profits fell more than 70% and stocks tumbled in the first quarter, but added he would stay on "as long as the president would like me to do so and as long as it's useful."

However, despite the apparent lowering of his profile, the world's richest man remains deeply involved with the Trump administration.

When Trump's second term began in January, Musk was working just steps from the Oval Office, attending Cabinet meetings and regularly conferring with key administration officials, including the president himself. But by late April he was no longer working, or sleeping, at DOGE headquarters, according to the New York Post. Just days earlier the had informed Tesla employees that he would be "allocating far more" of his time to the company starting in May.

Since then, Musk has remained comparatively quiet, even scaling back his activity on his own social media platform, X. During the first three months of Trump's second term, Musk averaged around 100 posts, quotes, and reposts per day. That volume has dropped significantly, with most of his recent updates focused on developments at his various tech companies rather than politics.

His absence has left the internet speculating on his activities while away from the public eye.

"This is a reminder post that he is still public enemy #2 and that despite the heat he has been getting, he still deserves everything that is happening to him," a Redditor wrote in a thread entitled, "Where TF is Elon Musk."

Some conjectured that the billionaire got exactly what he wanted, "and it had nothing to do with fraud, waste, and abuse," but rather Americans' stolen data. "He's probably behind the scenes directing tax payer money to space x and robbing taxpayers of their rightful entitlements," another Redditor added.

DOGE employees have been granted access to Americans' health records, Social Security numbers, and military files, along with sensitive data from the Treasury Department's payment systems and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; the latter of which effectively gave Musk visibility into competitors' information. Earlier this month, the Trump administration also petitioned the Supreme Court to allow DOGE access to sensitive records held by the Social Security Administration, according to the New York Times.

Musk has remained active behind the scenes. Last week, he appeared to be involved in President Trump's firing of Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office Shira Perlmutter the day after her office released a report challenging AI firms, including Musk's xAI's, "efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models."

New York Rep. Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the Committee on House Administration, condemned Perlmutter's firing as "a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis."

"This action once again tramples on Congress's Article One authority and throws a trillion-dollar industry into chaos. When will my Republican colleagues decide enough is enough?" Morelle challenged.

Musk Re-Emerges on Trump's Middle East Tour

Musk is currently traveling with the president's cohort on a four-day tour of the Middle East. Two days in, Trump has already inked "historic" billion- and trillion-dollar deals with the Gulf States of Qatar and Saudi Arabia with the United Arab Emirates to follow.

The tech titan has been meeting with global leaders behind the scenes. At the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, he was slotted for a sit-down interview just before President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman delivered their remarks, according to CNN.

During his conversation with Saudi Communications and Information Minister Abdullah Alswaha, Musk promoted a range of his ventures, including Tesla's autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots, The Boring Company's underground tunnels, xAI's "maximally truth-seeking AI," and Starlink's satellite network.

He also thanked the kingdom for approving a deal to deploy Starlink for maritime and aviation use, though the terms of the agreement remain undisclosed. Alswaha went on to hint at the possibility of also bringing Tesla's robotaxis to the Gulf state.

On Wednesday, while Trump closed a $1.2 trillion investment deal with Qatari officials, Musk met with Qatar Central Bank Governor Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani to discuss "the latest developments in global finance and investment, along with other related topics," per an X post. While in Qatar, Musk has also finalized $6 billion in state funding for xAI.