Musk's 100 days at DOGE: From video games to ice cream in the west wing

Hindustan Times

01-05-2025

He's slept in the Lincoln Bedroom, raided a White House freezer for Haagen-Dazs ice cream and played video games from his West Wing office.
Even Elon Musk seems a little bemused about his position leading President Donald Trump's signature government cost-cutting initiative, a role that has given the world's richest man unique access to nearly every corner of the White House.
'How did we get here?' the billionaire Tesla Inc. chief executive officer asked Wednesday, before laughing and continuing to brief reporters on his 100-day stint atop the program known as the Department of Government Efficiency effort, or DOGE.
Musk's self-reflection comes as he begins pulling back from his volunteer effort to slash government spending and cull the federal workforce, with plans to downshift from what was initially a seven-day-a-week role to perhaps one or two days a week on average going forward.
The transition will give Musk time to refocus on his many businesses, including Tesla, whose board recently began work on a search for a new CEO to succeed him at the electric-car maker, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm later denied this on X, calling the report 'absolutely false.'
Earlier: Musk's Role With Trump Is Ending But His Influence to Remain
Despite going part time, Musk is set to maintain a presence in the White House and in the president's inner circle. Trump has made clear there's an extended invitation: 'You're invited to stay as long as you want,' he told Musk during a cabinet meeting Wednesday.
Yet even Musk seemed to suggest that his federal government work was about to shift dramatically, with a reply reminiscent of a farewell: 'I would just like to say thank you, everyone.'
West Wing Office
In his remarks to reporters, Musk provided the most detailed overview of DOGE yet, roughly 100 days into the initiative. He said it had saved the federal government $160 billion — a figure that has not been substantiated — and that he helped thwart identity theft by blocking fraudulent Small Business Administration loans purportedly requested by toddlers.
Musk, who spent roughly a quarter billion dollars to fuel Trump's White House victory last November, said his future work for DOGE would still be conducted from a tiny perch inside the West Wing, what he calls a 'micro-office' with a window that offers just a 'glimmer of sunlight' but no real view.
'It has a view of nothing — it has a window but all you see is, like, an HVAC unit, which is fine because it's harder to shoot me,' Musk told reporters in the Roosevelt Room. 'There's not a good line of sight.'
Musk, who's also the CEO of SpaceX, has gained unprecedented access to the corridors of power in Washington during his short time as a special government employee, a temporary role that federal law caps at 130 days each calendar year. He's also drawn intense criticism for his cost-cutting campaign, with DOGE staff descending on agencies to scrutinize spending, examine sensitive government data and fire federal workers.
Many of the efforts are being fought in court.
The DOGE campaign has upended entire agencies; it's also led to the resignation and firings of tens of thousands of employees. Critics warn that many of the cutbacks would harm Americans far from Washington, making the country more vulnerable to health and weather hazards while diminishing America's prestige overseas as it competes with China for influence.
Some protesters have responded with attacks on Tesla dealerships and vehicles. Trump has condemned those attacks and repeatedly praised Musk, stressing that he has been treated unfairly for his government service.
Musk also offered an extraordinary glimpse into his status as a trusted Trump ally — one marked by occasional video games in his West Wing office ('Diablo' and 'Path of Exile') as well as overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom, where he said he slept at Trump's invitation.
'We'll be on Air Force One or Marine One and he's like, 'Hey do you want to stay over?' I'm like, 'Sure,' and he sends me to the Lincoln Bedroom,' Musk recalled. 'I haven't requested it — to be clear.'
With the president's encouragement, Musk said he's also gotten ice cream from the White House kitchen — eating 'a tub' of rich caramel Haagen-Dazs that might make Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president's junk-food avoiding secretary of Health and Human Services, wince.
'Don't tell RFK,' Musk quipped.
Musing on the persistence of the name 'DOGE' — now adopted by caucuses in the House and Senate — Musk reminded reporters the title started as a meme coin.
'Doesn't the absurdity of that seem, like are we in a simulation here? Or what's going on?' he asked, and laughed. 'Doesn't it seem absurd?'