The tycoon Elon Musk He stated that his experience as head of the Ministry of Government Efficiency, known as DOGEwas only “somewhat successful” and I wouldn’t repeat it. He said this during a relaxed interview with his assistant and conservative content creator Katie Miller that aired on his new podcast.
Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of the X platform, generally defended the controversial agency created by President Donald Trump. even though he left his position in the spring and the position officially closed last month. However, he lamented how difficult it was to quickly transform the federal government and acknowledged that his companies had suffered because of their commitment to DOGE and the lack of public support for the project.
“We’ve been somewhat successful. We’ve been somewhat successful.” said Miller, who was once a DOGE spokesperson responsible for explaining its initiatives to the public.
When the interviewer asked him if he would accept the position again, Musk replied: “I don’t think so. Instead of working on DOGE, I would have basically built my companies…I would have worked on my companies.” Then he added, almost wistfully, “They wouldn’t have burned the cars,” alluding to consumer protests against Tesla.
Despite his troubles, the businessman is having a good time financially. Since leaving the Trump administration, Tesla shareholders have agreed to a compensation package that makes him a the world’s first trillionaire.
The interview, which lasted more than 50 minutes, ranged from the DOGE agency and federal bureaucracy to his opinions on artificial intelligence, social media, conspiracy theories and even fashion. Miller, married to Trump advisor Stephen Millerstarted his podcast after leaving government to work alongside Musk himself in the private sector.
Unlike more incisive interviews, Miller did not ask him about DOGE’s internal workings or the controversial ways in which the agency seized control of federal systems and agencies. Musk defended that the company had managed to save up to $200 billion a year in “zombie payments”which he believes can be avoided through better automated systems and more efficient planning for federal transfers. However, this figure is far from the original promises, when Musk assured that an efficiency commission could lead to trillions of dollars in savings.
The conversation revealed the businessman’s ambivalent vision of his foray into government: on the one hand, proud of some technological improvements; on the other hand, he was convinced that the personal and business costs were too high to repeat the experience.
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