Elon Musk has acknowledged that he was "carried away" during his time in proximity to former President Donald Trump and suggested he should have maintained a more peripheral role.
Speaking on the podcast “The Builders” with Walter Isaacson, Musk stated that his involvement in politics, particularly with Trump, served as a distraction from his work with his artificial intelligence company, xAI. "I think I had it going for too long," Musk said of his political engagement.
Musk appeared on the podcast to discuss his company xAI, which he described as a "side hustle" he didn't "really pay close attention to." This lack of focus, he explained, was partly due to his political activities and his leadership of the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE.
"I think I should have been more like I said, been more in the background, and probably only had it last for, you know, a month or two, because at that point you’ve sort of seen most of what there is to see within a month or two," Musk reflected. He described the experience of being in the Oval Office during significant decision-making moments as "kind of cool," but conceded that the allure was "a little bit" too seductive.
Musk's involvement with the Trump administration included campaigning with the former president and taking on a role in DOGE after Trump's reelection. During this period, Musk engaged in public events that drew criticism, such as performing a gesture described as Nazi-like and appearing with a chainsaw at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Reports have since emerged questioning the effectiveness of DOGE. A Government Accountability Office report indicated that the federal government paid employees nearly $10 billion for not working in the previous year due to DOGE's budget reductions. The GAO also disputed DOGE's claim of saving $110 billion by July 2026, stating that the figure lacked supporting evidence.
Musk concluded that the national debt could not be solved from within the government. "The only way we’re going to solve the national debt is with AI and robots," he told Isaacson. He also suggested that Trump, who he believes "likes to be liked," might find it challenging to implement deficit-reduction measures that could alienate people by stopping funding.