Elon Musk is in damage control mode at Tesla as the company’s disappointing earnings force the tech billionaire to reevaluate his focus between his businesses and role in the Trump administration.

Faced with a 71-percent plunge in first-quarter earnings, the Tesla CEO tried to assure investors Tuesday he will soon spend less time working on President Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cost-cutting efforts and focus more on his company.

“Starting probably in [the] next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said at the start of Tesla’s earnings call Tuesday.

Musk’s special government status is set to end May 30, though there have been open questions about how long his White House presence would last. The billionaire made clear Tuesday he is at a crossroads amid ongoing backlash over DOGE.

“More important than numbers, this was the time Musk could pivot, speak to shareholders/employees, and take a turn away from the DOGE/Trump White House and recommit as CEO of Tesla...and he did it loudly and clearly in a conference call that we view as a turning point in the Tesla story,” Wedbush Securities analysts wrote in an investors note Wednesday.

Musk’s comments came about an hour after Tesla released its first quarter earnings, which totaled $409 million, or 12 cents per share, in the first three months of this year. The company’s revenue also fell 9 percent to $19.3 billion, far lower than analysts’ expectations.

Musk opened Tuesday’s earnings call immediately acknowledging the blowback he is facing over DOGE’s work, which is driving mass layoffs at federal agencies and program spending cuts.

After about three months of leading the DOGE efforts, Musk said the “major........

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