"We have to get a lot of votes, we can't be cutting – we need to get a lot of support," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Thousands of people were indiscriminately laid off or pushed out — hundreds of whom had to be rehired — and some federal agencies were eviscerated.

Musk's departure from the administration "is music to the ears of Tesla shareholders," said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, a long-time Tesla bull who had last month called the Tesla chief's tim...