Elon Musk with US president Donald Trump during a joint news conference after Musk announced his departure from his role as a special government employee. Photograph: Haiyun Jiang/New York Times Elon Musk came to Washington with a chainsaw and left with a black eye. Shrinking government is hard, particularly when you do it callously and carelessly – and apparently on hallucinogens. As with US president Donald Trump’s tariffs, the department of government efficiency (Doge) has created more volatility than value. A guy who went bankrupt six times doesn’t really care about spending. And Trump certainly didn’t want to see the...