In the beginning, Donald Trump and Elon Musk got along great . "He is a truly incredible guy," Trump said at a campaign rally last October, "and I don't say that that often."

Musk spent $288 million to elect Trump and his allies .

The president invited Musk into the Oval Office and Cabinet meetings. Musk called himself "first buddy."

Mr. Trump welcomed Musk's idea to create a Department of Government Efficiency . ["You gotta give him credit!" the president told reporters.] Musk demonstrated his goals for DOGE by wielding a chainsaw at a February meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference. "This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy!" he bellowed.

Elon Musk holds a chainsaw reading "Long live freedom, damn it" during the annual Conservative Political Action Conferenc

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