Elon Musk regrets it.

The relationship between Elon Musk and the US President has gone through many ups and downs since the billionaire left the White House. Photo: Official White House Photo/Molly Riley .

Six months after stepping down from his position as head of the Department for Government Effectiveness (DOGE) under President Trump, billionaire Elon Musk has expressed regret about his time involved in overseeing this controversial spending cut initiative.

In a conversation on "The Katie Miller Podcast," the billionaire revealed that if he could turn back time, he wouldn't join DOGE. Musk acknowledged that the agency had only achieved "partial" success in saving taxpayers' money.

"Nevertheless, we have been successful to some extent. This initiative has prevented many truly pointless and completely wasteful expenditures," the world's richest billionaire shared.

Elon Musk went on to share that instead of working at DOGE, he would focus on developing his own companies. He recalled his time at the agency as a rather strange and unbelievable experience.

"If I hadn't joined DOGE, Tesla cars probably wouldn't have been burned," Musk continued, alluding to the series of vandalism incidents at Tesla dealerships that occurred shortly after the government's spending cuts were implemented.

Billionaire Elon Musk believes DOGE has also been "somewhat successful." Photo: The Katie Miller Podcast.

Before leaving office in April, Musk estimated that DOGE could save approximately $2 trillion in budget funds, later adjusting it down to around $150 billion for fiscal year 2026. Ultimately, DOGE's office was disbanded in July without any official announcement regarding the total amount saved.

The DOGE office, named after a viral meme, was established just hours after President Trump took office. Musk, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars supporting Trump's campaign, quickly became a nearly ubiquitous figure at the White House.

Musk and his team at DOGE quickly scoured the entire executive branch, shutting down programs deemed wasteful and pushing for massive cuts to the federal workforce. In the case of the Agency for International Development (USAID), the entire organization was shut down.

The once close relationship between Elon Musk and Trump fractured shortly after the Tesla CEO left the White House in late May. In a public war of words, Musk personally criticized the US president and condemned Trump's tax laws. In response, Trump threatened to cut federal subsidies to Tesla and Musk's rocket company, SpaceX.

Since then, the two appear to have somewhat mended their relationship, with Musk visiting the White House in November for dinner with the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince.

When asked last week whether Musk would return to his circle of friends, Trump replied, "I really like Elon," while suggesting the rift between them stemmed from cuts to electric vehicle subsidies. "I think we get along," the US president added.

For his part, Musk shared in the interview that Trump is the funniest person he knows. "He has a great sense of humor," the billionaire said.

Source: https://znews.vn/elon-musk-hoi-han-vi-tham-gia-chinh-phu-my-post1610095.html