The world's richest man has played a uniquely prominent role in President Donald Trump's second administration.
In less than a year, Elon Musk has been a top Trump campaign donor, a senior advisor to the president, the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency and, suddenly, a vocal opponent of legislation that could be key to Trump's agenda.
Musk's prominence has been highly controversial with Americans, with only 38% of Economist/YouGov's May 30-June 2 poll respondents saying they would like Musk to have an influence in the administration going forward.
How did we get here? Take a look back and the dramatic rise and fall of their partnership:
Musk, the CEO of Tesla, bought Twitter in 2022 and reinstated Trump to the platform after he was banned following the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots. Musk became a growing ally to Trump over the next couple of years.
