Elon Musk prepares his White House exit: What Tesla CEO said on leaving Trump administration, kind of

Time of India

01-05-2025

Tesla CEO
Elon Musk is scaling back his involvement with the
Department of Government Efficiency
(
DOGE
), a federal initiative aimed at reducing government spending and modernizing technology systems. Musk, who was serving as a special government employee, is transitioning from daily in-person engagements at the
White House
to remote participation. In an hour-long interview on Wednesday April 30, Musk told reporters 'Now we're getting more of a rhythm. And so the amount of time that it's necessary for me to spend here is much less, and I can return to primarily running my companies, which do need me.'
During the interview, Musk insisted that the transition does not mean that DOGE work is done. The task force which was originally set up to terminate on July 4, 2026, will reportedly continue till the end of 2028. Asked about the possibility of extending DOGE's mandate, Musk responded, "I think so," adding, "It's up to the president.'
Elon Musk says DOGE is a way of life
Stating that during the 'intense' three months of the Trump administration, he occasionally slept over at the White House at Trump's invitation. Musk has frequently traveled with Trump in recent months. Sharing an exchange after such travels, Musk said: 'He (Donald Trump) was like: 'Where are you staying?' I was like: 'I don't know. At a friend's house, I guess.' And then he was like: 'Why don't you stay here?' I was like: 'Sure.''
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He would stay over in the White House's Lincoln Bedroom where he occasionally played video games – Diablo and Path of Exile.
Late night ice creams at White House
Musk, during the interview, recalled that Trump once called him late at night and suggested he get ice cream from the White House kitchen. 'He'll actually call late at night and say, 'Oh, by the way, make sure you get some ice cream from the kitchen,'' Musk said, jokingly adding 'Don't tell RFK.'
Elon Musk plans to keep his 'tiny office' in White House
During his tenure at White House, Musk told reporters that he was assigned an office on the top floor of the West Wing. Stating that he intends to keep the 'comically tiny office', he added that it's a tight space and gets only a "glimmer of sunlight."
'It has a view of nothing,' he said. 'It has a window but all you see is the HVAC unit, which is fine. It makes it harder to shoot me, I guess. There's not a good line of sight.'
Elon Musk on if DOGE has been effective
During the interview, Musk told the reporters that DOGE has cut $160 billion in
federal spending
which is far short of the $2 trillion goal he set last year. He said 'In the grand scheme of things, I think we've been effective. Not as effective as I like ... but we've made progress.'
He further added: 'There's a long way to go. It's pretty difficult ... It's like: How much pain is the Cabinet and Congress willing to take? It can be done. But it requires dealing with a lot of complaints.'
Elon Musk says he didn't always like the job
Musk also talked about the backlash DOGE faced for its actions and how his companies, especially Tesla became a target of protests and vandalism. He said 'Being attacked relentlessly is not super fun' adding "Seeing cars on fire is not fun."