People joke Elon Musk has been ‘kicked out of the White House’ after he’s denied West Wing office

Google searches for “Elon Musk removed from White House” spiked on Monday morning (27 January), amid reports that the tech billionaire has been denied an office in the White House’s coveted West Wing.

However, although he won’t be situated next door to the president, Musk hasn’t exactly been “removed” from the White House. The office space set aside for Musk is in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is located right next to the White House – and technically still counts as being in the “White House Complex.”

Elon Musk will be heading up Trump’s new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE). The Google searches were prompted by news reports that Susie Wiles, the president’s chief of staff, has denied the controversial figure a permanent office in the West Wing: the heart of the White House.

This follows reports that Elon Musk has barely left Trump’s side of late. “Elon won’t go home, I can’t get rid of him,” Trump reportedly joked to fellow Republicans. “At least until I don’t like him.”

The Times reports that during a signing session for executive orders, Trump was asked if Musk would be getting an office in the West Wing and responded, simply: “No. He went on to add: “He’s getting an office for about 20 people that we’re hiring to make sure that these [savings] get implemented.”

The Times also reported that Wiles, 67, had given a stern speech to the president’s incoming staff, saying: “anyone who cannot be counted on to be collaborative and focused on our shared goals isn’t working in the West Wing” and warning that she does not welcome “people who want to work solo or be a star.”

Intense controversy has raged around Musk over the past week after it was alleged he gave a “Nazi salute” at one of Trump’s inauguration events. He made the gesture during a speech in front of a crowd at the Capitol One Arena, in Washington DC, on Monday (20 January).

Telling voters “thank you for making it happen”, in reference to Trump’s victory over Democrat Kamala Harris, Musk placed one hand on his chest before thrusting the other towards the crowd, his fingers together and palm turned down. He then turned and performed the same salute to the American flag.

Musk has denied it was a Nazi salute. On X, he reshared a post from 2022 where he proclaimed that he would no longer vote Democrat and was waiting for the party’s “dirty tricks”.

Alongside the post, he wrote: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is so tired.”

In another post, Musk reshared one X user asking: “Can we retire the calling people a Nazi thing?” to which the tech billionaire responded: “Yeah exactly”, with a yawning emoji.

However, the denial hasn’t stopped a significant backlash against Musk from quickly gaining steam. On January 23, The Deutsches Museum in Munich removed an exhibit featuring Elon Musk, saying that there wasn’t enough space to include a “comprehensive historical portrayal” of the billionaire.

The exhibit’s design meant it was “difficult to react to current news events,” the spokesperson added.

And on January 24, protest group Led By Donkeys projected an image of Musk’s salute onto his Tesla gigafactory in Berlin, along with a five minute video showing how Elon Musk has continuously backed the far-right across Europe.

Many critics of Elon Musk took to social media – including X, the platform Musk owns – to celebrate the decision not to grant Musk space in the West Wing, which they saw as a snub to the 53-year-old Tesla CEO.

One viral tweet, littered with laughing emojis, said: “Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, has refused to give Elon Musk an office in the West Wing, sticking DOGE in the Eisenhower building, which is across the road from the White House. She’s also making him report to her.”

Donald Trump's Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, has refused to give Elon Musk an office in the West Wing, sticking DOGE in the Eisenhower building, which is across the road from the White House.

She's also making him report to her.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/nHcc2QLkns

— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) January 25, 2025

Another viral tweet showed a photo of Musk looking disappointed, with the caption: “BREAKING: Elon Musk was just refused office in the West Wing of the White House after spending over $200million to Elect Trump.”

A third showed a portaloo in a disused alleyway and joked that it was Musk’s new office. Other (possibly wishful-thinking fuelled) social media posts describe Musk as having been physically “kicked out” or evicted from the White House by Trump himself, which is not the case.

Elon Musk’s new office across the street from the White House. pic.twitter.com/H0F6Cc41mb

— Moog (@a_toots) January 26, 2025

DOGE itself has also has been dogged (pun not intended) with controversy lately.

The department faced its first lawsuit almost immediately after Trump was sworn in.

As reported by Forbes, the lawsuit has been filed by the public interest law group National Security Counselors, which alleges that the panel is violating the 1972 Federal Advisory Committee Act.

It aims to prevent DOGE from conducting business and to stop the White House from implementing its recommendations until its panel complies with the law.