Musk gives glimpse inside White House
DOGE head stepping back to focus on companies
By: Joey Garrison
and Francesca Chambers
USA Today
WASHINGTON - Elon Musk never asked to stay in the Lincoln Bedroom.
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He wants that to be very clear. That's just where he says President Donald Trump, who loves giving tours of the famous guest suite, sets him up when he stays over at the White House.
..... "We'll be on Air Force One, and Marine One, and he'll be like, 'Do you want to stay over?' And I'm like, 'sure,' " Musk said. "He'll actually call, like, late t night, and say like, 'Oh, by the way, make sure you get some ice cream from the kitchen.' "
..... From late-night ice cream runs at Trump's invitation - caramel-flavored Haagen-Dazs, to be exact - to better decision he say he could have made, the billionaire tech mogul who heads the Department of Government Efficiency pulled back the curtain on his time working, and sleeping, at the White House in a group interview with a dozen journalists.|
..... Musk, the world's richest man, is preparing to significantly scale back his roil in leading the cost-cutting DOGE, which has taken a battering ram to the federal government, slashing programs and eliminating positions. Musk has maintained a frequent presence in the White House during Trump's first 100 days, sometimes working in the building the doubles as the president's residence seven days a week overseeing DOGE, he said.
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But moving forward, Musk said he expects to spend about a day or two per week working on DOGE matters and "every other week" in Washington, D.C., as he turns his attention back to his electric vehicle company Tesla.
..... "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 they need me," he said.
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Musk's hour-long interview, which took place in the White House Roosevelt Room, near the Oval Office, marked his most extensive remarks to reports - besides his occasional interviews with Fox News - since he launched DOGE at the beginning of Trump's second term. His reduced role comes after Tesla posted an earnings decline of 71% during the first quarter of 2025.
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"I'm proud of the incredible work by the DOGE team. They take a lot of flak," Musk said. "These are people that can easily get a high-paying job in the private sector, and in fact came form high-paying jobs in the private sector."
..... Musk said the role has been "70% fun, 70% fun," adding that it "depends on the week."
..... "Being attacked relentlessly is not super fun. Seeing cars being is not fun," he said, referring to vandalism against Tesla vehicles.
..... And while he will be at the White House less, Musk said he expects to retain what he described as a tiny, one-window office.
..... "It has a view of nothing," Musk said as he described looking outside to see an HVAC unit. "Which is fine, makes it harder to shoot me.' ... Not a good line of sight.
..... Musk said he does, however, have the largest computer monitor in the White House. He said he sometimes plays two of his favorite video games: Diabio and Path of Exile.
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The White House has considered Musk a "special government employee," giving him the title of senior adviser to the president, a role that allows him to stay on the job for 130 calendar days a year. but he isn't sure whether he will keep a formal title.
..... "They don't put anything on my card," he said. "Literally, there;s nothing on my card. It just says my name."
..... As led who on the DOGE team will fill the void, Musk responded: "Is Buddha needed for Buddhism?"
..... "DOGE is a way of life," Musk said on multiple occasions, downplaying the effect his absence could have on the survival of the division.
..... Steve Davis, a top DOGE aide and longtime Musk loyalist, is expected to assume a larger rol in operations.
..... Musk said his goal for DOGE remains to cut $1 trillion form the federal government by the next fiscal year [2026] after he appeared to drastically lower the benchmark to $150 billion in recent remarks. he clarified he was referring to the figure that DOGE has save so far, which he said has now increased to $160 billion - through the declared savings have sometimes been exaggerated or misleading.
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"I think it's possible to do that, but there's a long road to go. ... It's really difficult," Musk said. "It's sort of, how much pain is, you know, the Cabinet and this Congress willing to take? Because it can be done, but it requires dealing with a lot of complaints."
..... He later acknowledged at another point in the interview, "I may not succeed." He said, "there's a lot of inertia in the government with respect to cost savings."
..... One of DOGE's most controversial actions has been the systematics downsizing of the federal workforce through voluntary buyouts and terminations of positions.
..... DOGE aides who attend the interview with Musk said hundred of thousands of workers will ultimately be reduced from the federal government. Only 1% - about 20,000 workers - of the overall workforce has so far been fired, they said, while about 80,000 workers accepted voluntary "fork in the road" buyouts.
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Under an executive order Trump singed on Inauguration Day, [01/20/2025] the nearly 100-employee team of DOGE is set to complete its work in July 2026, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
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But ultimately, Musk and DOGE could exist past that date, "for as long as the president wants."
..... When asked about his biggest regret, Musk said "better decisions could have been made with the benefit of hindsight."
..... "But of course, hindsight is 20/20," he said. "In the grand scheme of things, I think we've been effective. Not as effective as I'd like - I mean, we could be more effective, but we've made progress."
..... Still Musk seemed to take delight in the simple fact that DOGE is around.
..... "It is funny that we've got DOGE," Musk said, bursting into laughter. "I mean, doesn't the absurdity of that seem like, are we in a simulation here, or what's going on? How did we get here?"