One of the biggest questions surrounding Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s partnership is whether it will last. One of the president’s former, short-lived advisers has a clue.
“I believe past performance is an indication of the future. And so there’s nobody in Donald Trump’s orbit that likes him,” said Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of Skybridge Capital who served a short stint as Trump’s communications director during the president’s first term. Scaramucci called Trump an “angry guy” and “miserable” person.
“Everyone flames out with Trump,” he said in an interview.
Scaramucci has personal experience in that regard. He served as Trump’s White House communications director for just 11 days in the summer of 2017, before he was fired over a profane interview. In recent years, he’s become a vocal critic of Trump, although he has been willing to give the president credit on certain decisions.
“There’s a lot of people in my life, I say, ‘Don’t go work for Trump. He’s gonna burn you,’” Scaramucci told Quartz, adding that he didn’t believe it when other people gave him the same advice. “I would’ve said to those people: ‘No, no, no. He burns other people. He’s not gonna burn me.’ Then he burned me.”
Musk has spent much of his time since the election working alongside Trump in Washington, often sleeping in his government office and posting on his social media site X, formerly Twitter. His Department of Government Efficiency — which the White House claims he leads in an unofficial capacity — has been pushing cost-cutting at multiple government agencies, even those that regulate Musk’s companies.
The Tesla (TSLA) CEO has basked in his influence over Trump and federal policy, waving a gifted chainsaw at a recent conservative political convention and frequently touting DOGE’s efforts on social media. During his first address to Congress, Trump rattled off DOGE’s accomplishments and praised Musk — to much applause from Republicans — who responded with a salute.
But DOGE has also made some mistakes and taken credit for things it didn’t do. The group recently erased more than $4 billion in savings it claimed to have made for taxpayers after a series of errors. That included a $1.8 billion contract that was actually canceled in November, before Trump took office, and at least one contract for work that had already been completed.
“Thank you, Elon. He’s working very hard,” Trump said Tuesday. “Thank you very much, we appreciate it.”
Trump has moved to put some limits on Musk’s influence. He recently told reporters that he wants members of his cabinet to be more involved with planned job cuts and to move more slowly. “We say the ‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet,’” Trump wrote on social media.
More than 62,000 federal workers lost their jobs between January and February, and the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Veterans Affairs are each considering cutting tens of thousands of workers. At least 17 agencies have already announced layoffs.
“I’m giving him a six to eight month duration,” Scaramucci said of Musk. “He’ll be jettisoned from the Trump world.”
But he predicted Musk won’t be completely kicked out. “He’s too rich,” Scaramucci said. “And Donald Trump respects that kind of wealth.”
Musk spent at least $288 million to help elect Republican candidates throughout the 2024 election, according to The Washington Post. The majority of his cash went to his America PAC, which plans to spend in the 2026 midterm elections.