Americanswers…on 5 Live! Is Elon Musk being forced out of the White House?

Apr 23, 2025

Elon Musk is stepping back from Dogecoin to focus on Tesla, raising questions about his future in the political arena. Meanwhile, Donald Trump plans to attend Pope Francis's funeral, aiming to influence the next Pope's selection despite their fraught history. The discussion takes a whimsical turn as the hosts ponder age dynamics among listeners and share thoughts on immigration fears affecting international students. A strange painting gifted by Putin featuring Trump adds an unexpected twist, as they analyze its political ramifications.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Elon Musk Scaling Back Role

Elon Musk announced reducing his involvement with Doge and focusing more on Tesla amid disappointing profits.
Tesla shareholders likely relieved as his political role contracts due to government service limits and other pressures.

INSIGHT

Elon Musk's Political Retreat

Elon Musk seems to be quietly stepping back or being phased out from high-profile government roles.
His disagreements with Trump's administration over tariffs and business strategy hint at diverging priorities.

INSIGHT

Musk as Administration's Scapegoat

Elon Musk has managed a personal rapport with Trump but tensions grow with cabinet officials over budget cuts.
As Musk loses favor, he becomes a convenient scapegoat for unpopular administration actions.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Elon Musk says he’s stepping back from his role at DOGE and refocusing on Tesla after the electric car firm reported a huge drop in profit and sales for the start of this year. We look at whether he could be on his way out completely.

Donald Trump meanwhile says he’ll be attending the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome this weekend. The late Pope was an outspoken critic of Trump’s policies during the president’s first term. Will Trump try and influence the appointment of his successor?

Americanswers is back on 5 Live to answer your questions…

HOSTS: • Matt Chorley, 5 Live Presenter • Justin Webb, Radio 4 Presenter • Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Correspondent • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent

GET IN TOUCH: • Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast

This episode was made by George Dabby with Rufus Gray and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer was Chris Flynn. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.

You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers.

US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155

Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including The Global Story, The Today Podcast, and of course Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.

The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd The Today Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm