Mega billionaire Elon Musk, in a friendly interview with his aide and conservative influencer Katie Miller, said his efforts leading the Department of Government Efficiency were only “somewhat successful” and he would not do it over again.
TL;DR
- Elon Musk stated his work with the Department of Government Efficiency was only somewhat successful.
- Musk would not repeat his experience with the agency, preferring to focus on his companies.
- He mentioned consumer boycotts targeting Tesla negatively impacted his companies during his government tenure.
- Musk attributed the agency with preventing approximately $200 billion annually in "zombie payments."
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who also possesses the social media service X, continued to generally support President Donald Trump’s controversial pop-up agency suggesting Musk left in the spring prior to its official closure last month. However, Musk lamented the challenges of rapidly reforming the federal government, and he admitted the significant negative impact his DOGE endeavors and their unpopularity had on his companies.
“We were a little bit successful. We were somewhat successful,” he told Miller, who once worked as a DOGE spokeswoman charged with selling the agency’s work to the public.
When Miller questioned Musk about repeating the experience, he responded: “I don’t think so. … Instead of doing DOGE, I would have, basically, built … worked on my companies.”
Musk added, almost wistfully, “They wouldn’t have been burning the cars”, alluding to the consumer boycotts targeting Tesla.
Nevertheless, circumstances have definitely improved for Musk following his exit from Trump’s government. Shareholders of Tesla gave their endorsement to a pay package that might elevate Musk to become the planet's inaugural trillionaire.
Musk was appearing as a guest on the “Katie Miller Podcast,”, an initiative started by Miller, who is wed to prominent Trump advisor Stephen Miller, after she concluded her public service tenure to join Musk's commercial enterprise. The pair engaged in a discussion lasting over fifty minutes, seated opposite one another, covering subjects ranging from DOGE to Musk's perspectives on artificial intelligence, online platforms, speculative notions, and sartorial choices.
Musk wasn't questioned by Miller regarding the specifics of DOGE or the contentious way it infiltrated federal agencies and data networks.
Musk attributed the agency with preventing approximately $200 billion each year in “zombie payments”, which he asserted could be circumvented through improved automated frameworks and programming for government disbursements. However, that figure is dwarfed by Musk’s ambitious promises at a juncture when an efficiency commission might quantify savings in the trillions. Miller has not provided a response to an inquiry from The Associated Press seeking remarks.
