I would have worked on my companies instead
Elon Musk, one of the most powerful private figures to step into a formal government role in recent American history, has quietly stepped back from that experiment — judging it only a partial success and declining to repeat it. The Department of Government Efficiency, which he led for five months under President Trump, disbanded early and left behind unverified claims of savings and a trail of personal and professional costs. His candor about the experience speaks to something older than politics: the tension between ambition and capacity, and the price of dividing one's attention between empire and ideology.
- Musk publicly admitted DOGE fell short of its ambitions, a rare moment of self-criticism from a figure known for projecting confidence.
- The backlash was not merely political — Tesla vehicles were vandalized and investors grew alarmed as the company's performance suffered under Musk's divided focus.
- DOGE shut down eight months before its mandate expired, leaving behind spending-cut claims that were never independently verified or publicly itemized.
- A bitter falling out with Trump over tax and spending legislation cracked what had seemed an unshakeable alliance, and reconciliation remains incomplete.
- Musk now signals he would have stayed with his companies rather than taken the government role — a quiet but significant retreat from the political arena.
Elon Musk this week offered a candid verdict on his own government work: the Department of Government Efficiency was only "a little bit successful," and he would not lead it again. The admission came during a podcast appearance and marked a notable shift in tone from the man who had thrown himself into federal cost-cutting with considerable public energy just months earlier.
Musk had been a major backer of Trump's campaign and became one of his closest advisers after the election. When DOGE was created in the early months of Trump's second term, Musk took charge, pursuing an ambitious mandate to shrink both the federal budget and its workforce. But the visibility that came with the role carried real costs — Tesla vehicles were vandalized, investors grew uneasy about his divided attention, and the company was already navigating slowing sales. "I would have basically worked on my companies," Musk said. "And they wouldn't have been burning the cars."
The relationship between Musk and Trump fractured around midyear over the president's tax and spending legislation. Though there are signs of a tentative reconciliation, Musk appears to be keeping his distance from the administration's ongoing work.
DOGE itself has already disbanded — confirmed by the director of the Office of Personnel Management — despite having eight months remaining on its original mandate. The department claimed tens of billions in cuts, but released no detailed public accounting, leaving those figures impossible to verify. What the episode has left behind is a chastened Musk, more aware of the limits of his bandwidth and the costs of high-profile political entanglement.
Elon Musk sat down on a podcast this week and offered a blunt assessment of his own work: the Department of Government Efficiency, the federal cost-cutting initiative he led for President Trump, was only "a little bit successful." More striking still, when asked whether he would take on the role again, he said no.
Musk had been a major financial backer of Trump's campaign and quickly became one of his closest advisers after the election. When Trump created DOGE in the opening months of his second term, Musk took the helm, tasking himself and his team with the ambitious project of slashing both the federal budget and the government's workforce. For five months, he pursued that mandate with public visibility and considerable energy.
But the work came with a cost. The political attention Musk drew—and the rhetoric that accompanied his cost-cutting push—triggered a backlash that extended beyond policy circles. Tesla vehicles were vandalized. Investors grew uneasy, worried that Musk's focus on DOGE was pulling his attention away from Tesla at a moment when the company was already contending with slowing sales. The distraction, Musk himself now suggests, may have been a mistake. "I think instead of doing DOGE, I would have basically worked on my companies," he said on the podcast with Katie Miller, a former Trump administration official. "And they wouldn't have been burning the cars."
The relationship between Musk and Trump, which had seemed so solid at the start, fractured around midyear. The two had a bitter public falling out over the president's tax and spending legislation. There have been some recent signs that the rift is beginning to heal, though the damage appears real enough that Musk is now keeping his distance from the administration's work.
DOGE itself has already disbanded, according to Scott Kupor, the director of the Office of Personnel Management, who confirmed the news to Reuters this month. The unit was supposed to operate for a full year, but it shut down with eight months still remaining on its mandate. The department claimed to have cut tens of billions of dollars from federal spending, a figure that has never been independently verified. DOGE released no detailed public accounting of its work, making it impossible for outside financial experts to assess whether the cuts were real, where they fell, or what their actual impact has been.
What remains clear is that Musk's brief foray into government restructuring has left him chastened. The experience appears to have taught him something about the limits of his own bandwidth and the costs of high-profile political involvement. Whether that reluctance signals a broader retreat from Trump's orbit, or simply a recalibration of how much of his time and reputation he is willing to stake on the administration's agenda, remains to be seen.
Citações Notáveis
I think instead of doing DOGE, I would have basically worked on my companies. And they wouldn't have been burning the cars.— Elon Musk, on a podcast with Katie Miller
No, I don't think so.— Elon Musk, when asked if he would lead DOGE again
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
When Musk says DOGE was only "a little bit successful," what does that actually mean? Did it fail to cut spending, or did it succeed but at too high a cost?
The second one, I think. DOGE claimed to have slashed tens of billions in federal spending, but there's no way to know if that's real because they never released detailed numbers. What we do know is that the political price was steep—Tesla got vandalized, investors got nervous, and Musk's own companies suffered from his divided attention.
So he's saying the cost-benefit analysis didn't work out for him personally.
Exactly. He's not saying the mission was wrong or that government waste isn't real. He's saying that *he* shouldn't have been the one to do it. He's a businessman first, and DOGE pulled him away from that.
The falling out with Trump in the middle of the year—was that about policy disagreement, or was it about Musk feeling burned?
The source says it was over Trump's tax and spending bill, so there was a real policy disagreement. But the timing matters. Musk was already frustrated by the backlash, already worried about Tesla. The fight with Trump probably felt like the final straw.
And now they're reconciling?
There are signs of it, yes. But Musk's refusal to lead DOGE again suggests he's not going to be as close to the administration going forward. He's learned something about the cost of being Trump's right hand.
What happens to DOGE now that it's disbanded?
That's the real question. It shut down eight months early with no public accounting of what it actually accomplished. We may never know if those tens of billions in cuts were real or just claimed.