What began with a chainsaw is ending in a whimper. Elon Musk’s looming exit from Washington brings the oddest chapter of Donald Trump’s presidency to an early close. By his own metrics, Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency has failed. Far from achieving his touted $2tn in savings, Doge may end up costing the taxpayer. Musk has meanwhile brought harm on Tesla, where he will soon return. Was there a hidden method to his madness?

Two Musk gains can be spotted in the rubble. The first is the psychic value to him and Trump of harming their enemies. The cliché about an expensive divorce being worth every penny applies. Musk’s net worth has fallen by about $130bn since Trump’s inauguration. Yet he has instilled fear into the bureaucracy from the CIA to the Department of Education. The downsides to Doge’s valley of tears — a demoralised workforce and bad headlines about non-existent savings — can be presented as a win. Musk assaulted the deep state. With some help from the courts, the bureaucracy has fought back but is badly wounded.

Musk’s second upside could take a while to register. Trump’s “Golden Dome”, which aims to replicate Israel’s “Iron Dome” for all of the US, could be one of the biggest taxpayer outlays since Ronald Reagan’s strategic defence initiative, better known as “Star Wars”. In dollar terms Trump’s dome may even rival Nasa’s Project Apollo, which cost $280bn in today’s money. Since the missile shield would need to rely on swarms of satellites, Musk’s SpaceX would be the largest beneficiary. The company has formed a Golden Dome consortium with Palantir and Anduril, which are run by his Big Tech friends.