Elon Musk is not leaving the nation's capital quietly.
The Tesla CEO appeared in the Oval Office with President Trump Friday on his last day as a special government employee, after confirming his exit from Washington, D.C., in a post on X Wednesday night.
“This is not the end of DOGE," Musk said while comparing his work with the Department of Government Efficiency to Buddhism, calling it "a way of life." Musk offered at least his fourth different promise about what DOGE will save and noted that he will continue to provide advice to Trump.
What Musk declined to do Friday was repeat his recent critiques of aspects of Trump's agenda.
Musk stood by silently as Trump said his "big, beautiful bill" would "cut deficits" — a claim that nearly every outside observer and Mr. Musk himself have said is false.
The bill "increases the budget deficit ... and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," he said.
White House adviser Stephen Miller said this week on X that the bill would in fact reduce the deficit and that DOGE cuts would have to be formalized in subsequent legislation.
President Trump and Elon Musk speak at the White House in March. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images) ·ROBERTO SCHMIDT via Getty Images
The world's richest man is making his views on a variety of subjects well known in Washington as he returns his attention to his many businesses, including Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX (SPAX.PVT).
He told Bloomberg last week that he is going to do less political spending in the future, saying "I think I've done enough," and acknowledged to Ars Technica that "I think I probably did spend a bit too much time on politics."
His ongoing feud with OpenAI's Sam Altman even became part of the Washington conversation after the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk pushed back against a deal announced last week that has OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) and other tech giants building an AI data center in Abu Dhabi.
The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported that Musk tried to include his AI company, xAI, in the deal, but that didn't happen.
Elon Musk and Sam Altman in 2015. (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Vanity Fair) ·Michael Kovac via Getty Images
Musk also made it clear this week that he is returning to the office so he can focus on his businesses, including Tesla, SpaceX, and X.
"Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms," he said Tuesday on X, adding that he "must be super focused on X/xAI and Tesla (plus Starship launch next week), as we have critical technologies rolling out."
Tesla itself is gearing up for crucial robotaxi trials in Austin, starting at the end of July.
Musk and Tesla have bet the future of the company on self-driving and the ability for its cars to perform robotaxi services. Tesla's dedicated robotaxi — the Cybercab — is slated for a 2026 launch as well. And Tesla's long-awaited, more affordable EVs are expected to be revealed in the first half of the year.
Musk's return to work has been teased since April, when he said his time in D.C. would be dropping.
"Starting early next month, in May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly," Musk told investors on Tesla's Q1 earnings call. But reports showed Musk was still spending time in D.C. in April.
Last week, during two separate interviews with Bloomberg and CNBC, Musk reiterated his rededication to his companies. He also said he sees himself in the Tesla CEO chair for at least the next five years.
Musk and his DOGE allies rode into Washington months ago with giant promises to cut "at least" $2 trillion from the government's annual budget, an effort that has shown little results even after causing chaos among the federal workforce and seeing Musk recently take a step back.
A tracker of real-time government spending from the Brookings Institution shows that overall government spending in calendar year 2025 is actually slightly up from 2024 spending levels, even as the effects of DOGE can clearly be seen on smaller agencies like the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
In an interview this week with the Washington Post, Musk lamented the criticism and opposition his cost-cutting project engendered, saying, "DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything."
Musk previously appeared to signal his opposition to the bill when he posted last week — as the bill was being debated — that "the profligacy of government means that only radical improvements in productivity can save our country."
This week's CBS interview has seen him be much more specific.
"I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don't know if it can be both," he joked, adding, "My personal opinion."
But in a post on X Wednesday night, Musk struck a note of optimism: DOGE's mission, he said, "will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."
At one point on Friday, Musk sidestepped a question about what had been the biggest roadblock to his efforts, saying it's "not any one person" and suggesting DOGE would be an effort that would end up being successful.
Musk was also asked Friday about a New York Times report that Musk allegedly abused both illicit and pharmaceutical drugs "far more intensely than previously known" while on the campaign trail for Trump.
He refused to answer a question about it. "That New York Times? Let's move on," he said, after criticizing the New York Times' Pulitzer award on its Trump and Russia reporting, one that Trump has called the "Russia hoax."
Musk was also asked about what appeared to have a black eye near his right temple.
"I was horsing around with little X [Musk's son], and I said, 'Go ahead and punch me in the face,' and he did," Musk explained.
