U.S. President Donald Trump has told people in his inner circle that Elon Musk will step back from his role as a governing partner in the coming weeks, Politico reported Wednesday. 

Trump and Musk in recent days had decided Musk will soon to return to his businesses and take on a supporting role in government, the report said, citing three unnamed Trump insiders. Trump remains pleased with Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency initiative, the report said. 

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares rose 5.8% to $275.75 in afternoon trade. They had fallen earlier with Tesla’s Q1 deliveries plunging. The EV maker posted 336,681 deliveries, below the consensus estimate of 377,000. 

The White House's press secretary in a Wednesday post on X (formerly Twitter) called Politico's report "garbage," and said Musk will continue DOGE work until it is "complete". 

Broadly, stocks moved higher (SP500)(COMP:IND)(DJI) in afternoon trade, ahead of the Trump administration’s announcement about potential reciprocal tariffs on trading partners worldwide.

Shares of Trump's social media company, Trump Media & Technology (NASDAQ:DJT), were down 4.6%. 

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