Elon Musk on DOGE and why he would not need to “take accountability for every little thing the administration’s doing”

At first, Donald Trump and Elon Musk bought alongside nice. “He’s a really unimaginable man,” Trump stated at a marketing campaign rally final October, “and I do not say that that usually.”

Musk spent $288 million to elect Trump and his allies. 

The president invited Musk into the Oval Workplace and Cupboard conferences. Musk known as himself “first buddy.”

Mr. Trump welcomed Musk’s concept to create a Division of Authorities Effectivity. [“You gotta give him credit!” the president told reporters.]  Musk demonstrated his objectives for DOGE by wielding a chainsaw at a February assembly of the Conservative Political Motion Convention. “That is the chainsaw for forms!” he bellowed.

In 4 months, DOGE took the chainsaw to each federal division: 250,000 staff had been fired or purchased out; Musk even slashed grants and staffing at environmental businesses, just like the EPA and NOAA, after a long time of warning concerning the dangers of local weather change.

However Musk did not benefit from the pushback. There have been acts of violence; loss of life threats; lawsuits; obligatory re-hirings; and shouting matches with Cupboard members.

Tesla income plummeted by 71%—and Musk’s internet price dropped by $100 billion. 

Final month, Musk lastly left Washington, however nonetheless meant to work on DOGE a day or two per week. And this previous Tuesday, he supplied “Sunday Morning” an interview at SpaceX’s headquarters close to Brownsville, on the southern tip of Texas.

“It is a bit unfair”

We knew we had been in the correct neighborhood once we noticed an enormous bust of Musk, put in by his admirers—and vandalized by his critics.

However the interview did not get off to a clean begin.

I requested, “I seen that your entire companies contain numerous elements, numerous elements. Do the tariffs and the commerce wars have an effect on any of this?”

“You recognize, tariffs all the time have an effect on issues a bit bit,” Musk replied.

“I am questioning what your thought is on the ban on international college students, the proposal. I imply, you had been a type of youngsters, proper?”

“Yeah. I imply, I feel we wanna keep on with, you realize, the topic of the day, which is, like, spaceships, versus, you realize, presidential coverage,” Musk stated.

“Oh, okay,” I stated. “I used to be advised something is sweet, however…”

“No, nicely—no,” Musk replied.

However Musk was keen to speak concerning the DOGE firestorm. I requested him, “You have spoken about how a lot of a grind and a stress it was on you, and you realize, Tesla’s popularity took a success, your popularity took a success. Persons are very upset about [effects on] Social Safety, and nationwide parks, and air site visitors, and meals security, and most cancers analysis, Alzheimer’s analysis. Now that you’ve got had an opportunity to have a look at it, would possibly there have been a special method?”

Musk stated, “Yeah, I feel … what was beginning to occur was that, like, it is a bit unfair as a result of, like, DOGE grew to become the whipping boy for every little thing. So, if there was some reduce, actual or imagined, everybody would blame DOGE. I’ve had folks suppose that, like, one way or the other DOGE is gonna cease them from getting their Social Safety examine, which is totally unfaithful.”

I requested, “I used to be simply fascinated by the, you realize, ‘transfer quick and break issues,’ you realize, earlier than you actually perceive what the company does?”

“Yeah, I imply, I suppose a part of it’s, like, is it will depend on the place you are coming from,” Musk stated. “I am like a proponent of smaller authorities, not larger authorities. So, now if anyone’s a proponent of, you realize, extra authorities packages and larger authorities, they usually see, ‘Hey, DOGE is chopping all these authorities packages,’ then they’re going to be basically against that as a result of they simply suppose the federal government ought to do extra issues. That is only a elementary, I suppose, ideological opinion. 

“However my frank opinion of the federal government is that, like, the federal government is simply, like, the DMV that bought massive, okay? So, if you say it like, ‘Let’s have the federal government do one thing,’ you must suppose, ‘Would you like the DMV to do it?'” 

After which, Musk began speaking concerning the Trump administration, with out even being requested about Trump. “And you realize, it is not like I agree with every little thing the administration does,” stated Musk. “So it is like, I imply, I agree with a lot of what the administration does. However we now have variations of opinion. You recognize, there are issues that I do not fully agree with. Nevertheless it’s tough for me to deliver that up in an interview as a result of then it creates a bone of competition. So then, I am a bit caught in a bind, the place I am like, nicely, I do not wanna, you realize, converse up in opposition to the administration, however I additionally do not wanna take accountability for every little thing this administration’s doing.”

On the “Huge, Stunning Invoice”

In Washington, federal staff say that DOGE has left the federal government’s operations in disarray. And worst of all, it may need all been for nothing. Musk claims to have saved the federal government $175 billion up to now (nowhere near his unique goal of $2 trillion, and even his revised goal of $1 trillion).

And that was earlier than the president’s new spending invoice handed the Home. In response to the Congressional Finances Workplace, the president’s proposed price range will add $3.8 trillion to our debt over the following ten years. It is now being debated within the Senate.

Musk stated, “I used to be, like, upset to see the huge spending invoice, frankly, which will increase the price range deficit, would not lower it, and undermines the work that the DOGE staff is doing.”

I stated, “I really thought that, when this ‘massive, stunning invoice’ got here alongside, it might be like, every little thing he is accomplished on DOGE will get worn out within the first 12 months.”

“I feel a invoice might be massive or it may be stunning,” Musk laughed. “However I do not know if it might be each. My private opinion.”

And right here is the place the story will get a bit sophisticated.

On Tuesday, proper after our interview, CBS Information launched a clip of it to advertise this very report. It was that half, the place Musk criticizes Trump’s spending invoice, and his remarks grew to become information. It went all the best way to the White Home, the place the president was requested about Musk’s criticism of the invoice. Inside 24 hours, Musk introduced that his time within the Trump administration was formally over. Out of DOGE, out of presidency.

Musk stated that the explanation was that his restricted 130-day stint as advisor was ending. However till that second, he’d been saying that he nonetheless meant to work on DOGE part-time. “Properly, DOGE is gonna proceed, simply as a lifestyle,” he advised us. “I’ll have some participation in that, however as I’ve stated publicly, my focus needs to be on the businesses at this level.”

Fact is, the Trump-Musk relationship had already appeared to be cooling. The president used to publish about Musk about six occasions per week. However by April, he’d stopped mentioning Musk altogether. 

Nonetheless, on Friday, they held a media occasion on the White Home to verify their mutual admiration—and to depart the door open for future collaboration. “Elon’s actually not leaving,” Mr. Trump stated. “He is gonna be forwards and backwards, I feel, I’ve a sense.”

Musk added, “The DOGE staff is doing an unimaginable job. They will proceed doing an unimaginable job, and I’ll proceed to be visiting right here and be a good friend and advisor to the president.”

Musk could be the primary to confess that his DOGE experiment gave him a black eye—just like the precise black eye he had on Friday, which he says he bought from his five-year-old son … or the matching one on that statue.

At the least for now, Musk says that his focus might be working his enterprise ventures: Tesla, Starlink, X, xAI, Neuralink, Optimus robots, the Boring Firm, and SpaceX. 

I requested, “Are your entire companies associated not directly?” 

“I suppose you’ll be able to consider the companies as issues that enhance the possible trajectory of civilization,” Musk replied. “So you realize, for making life multi-planetary or extending life to Mars, the concept there’s to make sure the long-term survival of life and consciousness as we all know it.”

After our interview Tuesday, we had been invited to witness the ninth launch of his Starship, the most important rocket ever constructed. The 2 earlier Starship assessments led to explosions – or, as SpaceX places it, “fast unscheduled disassemblies.” So, all eyes had been on Take a look at Launch 9 to see if a Starship might return to Earth in a single piece.

As Musk left our interview to observe the launch, he stated one thing that might sum up all his enterprises: “I can not assure success, however I can assure pleasure.”

Ultimately, Elon Musk’s large rocket spun uncontrolled. It didn’t survive re-entry.

       
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Story produced by Dustin Stephens. Editor: Carol Ross.