(TNND) — Elon Musk is pulling back from politics to refocus his energies on his business empire, including Tesla and SpaceX.

Musk told Bloomberg’s Mishal Husain at the Qatar Economic Forum a week ago that he’s still spending a day or two a week as an adviser for President Donald Trump.

But the billionaire, who reportedly spent about $290 million to help Trump and other Republicans in the last election, also told Husain that he’s “going to do a lot less” political spending in the future.

"I think I've done enough," he said.

Husain asked Musk if his pullback in political spending was because of blowback, presumably to his Department of Government Efficiency work.

Musk didn’t directly answer Husain’s question.

"Well, if I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it," Musk said. "I do not currently see a reason."

Musk previously told Tesla investors that he was going to scale back his DOGE activities after sales slid for the carmaker.

Musk decried the violence and vandalism that occurred at some Tesla dealerships in response to his foray into right-wing politics.

And The Washington Post, citing anonymous sources familiar with Musk’s thinking, reported that he didn’t anticipate the level of backlash his DOGE work would generate.

A recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found that only about a third of Americans approved of Musk’s job performance with DOGE.

The Post reported that Musk has become disillusioned with his political influence.

Todd Belt, the Political Management program director at George Washington University, said a turning point for Musk came in April, when the conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate he spent millions to support lost to a liberal candidate.

Belt said Musk saw politics as a way to boost his reputation.

“And it has really backfired on him,” Belt said.

Tesla suffered.

So did Musk’s reputation.

And Musk might’ve realized deep cuts via DOGE would be hard to achieve.

"I think he's getting off of the train before it becomes apparent that he was not able to fulfill what he had promised," Belt said.

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Alex Nowrasteh, the vice president for economic and social policy studies at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, said Musk "got almost nothing for" all the time, money and energy he put into DOGE.

Musk wanted to cut $2 trillion in federal spending with DOGE.

So far, DOGE claims to have saved taxpayers $175 billion by canceling costly government contracts, selling assets, fighting fraud, stopping grants, making changes to programs, layoffs and more.

But Nowrasteh said Musk and DOGE have exaggerated the amount they’ve saved Americans.

“I think the amount of actual savings is about a tenth of that,” Nowrasteh said.

And Nowrasteh expressed skepticism that DOGE will have much of a lasting impact on the ballooning federal debt.

The country is in the hole by more than $36 trillion and adding to it with $2 trillion annual deficits.

Congress is not going to cement DOGE cuts into law, he said.

And Trump’s "one big, beautiful bill," containing the president’s tax cuts and spending priorities, has the potential to increase federal debt.

“Ultimately, if you take a look at government spending, a chart of government spending, and its impact on the economy, you will not be able to identify when DOGE was created, because there will be no noticeable blip or difference in trajectory in federal spending,” Nowrasteh said. “So, I think all in all it was a failure. It probably could never have succeeded as it was envisioned. And they vastly oversold what was possible."

Nowrasteh said he expects Musk will be done with politics, including DOGE, at least for a few years.

DOGE can survive after Musk in some form, Nowrasteh said.

There are DOGE teams embedded at federal agencies.

“They are trying to make some changes, many of them positive,” Nowrasteh said.

And Nowrasteh said DOGE has the support of Trump’s budget chief Russell Vought.

"They will continue to break down some data silos within the federal government to push conservative policy priorities," Nowrasteh said. "But I think the days, the heady days, of DOGE bragging about feeding federal agencies into the wood chipper are over."

Belt said Trump might be fine to let DOGE wither and die without Musk there every day to serve as the “lightning rod.”

And Belt doesn’t expect Musk to devote much time to DOGE going forward with “bigger problems back on the home front.”

DOGE was a misfire for the administration, Belt said.

Musk might not be a big spender for Republicans in next year’s midterm elections, based on what he told Bloomberg’s Husain at the Qatar Economic Forum.

But Belt is skeptical that Musk is done with politics. He might just operate behind the scenes a bit more and spend his money more strategically and cautiously, Belt said.

“The thing about politics is people walk away, but they get drawn back in really quickly,” Belt said.