The dog(e) days are over. Or they soon may be, following reports Elon Musk‘s time in US government is nearing an end.

President Donald Trump has told his closest allies that Musk will be moving away from the centre of power.

When the news broke via Politico, it was met with a somewhat predictable “fake news’” response from Musk and a “garbage” reaction from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Yet days earlier Trump had told reporters: “He’s got a big company to run… at some point he’s going to be going back.”

That point, it seems, is now.

Trump’s buddy-in-chief has served his purpose: Musk bankrolled his election campaign to the tune of $290m (£221m), gave Trump’s old-man image a sprinkling of modern tech bros vibes, and sharpened a spirit of disruption. Crucially, he was a lightning rod for anti-Trump sentiment as he rampaged through federal government in search of $1trn (£763bn) in savings.

Yet recently Musk has appeared less a utility, more a liability.

There have been a series of mistakes at Doge, including incorrect data and double counting of savings. Republican congressmen and women have been rattled by chainsaw cost-cutting which has hacked 280,000 jobs and hit sensitive areas including veterans’ welfare, small business suppliers for the shuttered........

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