Elon Musk admitted Wednesday that his first 100 days in the White House were “intense,” as he stood up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and attempted to slash trillions of dollars in government spending.
The tech billionaire told a small group of reporters in a briefing that he spent almost seven days a week at the White House — where he occasionally slept in the Lincoln bedroom — in the early days of the Trump administration.
“It’s just been a very intense 100 days, where at times I was here full time. So, at the beginning, I was here in D.C. seven days a week for some of the weeks in the beginning, or close to seven days a week,” Musk said.
“And now we’re getting more of a rhythm and so the amount of time that is necessary for me to spend here is much less,” he continued.
The remarks come exactly one month before Musk’s special government status is set to expire on May 30. He told Tesla investors last week he plans to wind down the amount of time he is spending on DOGE to devote more time to his other companies, but that will not mean a full departure yet.
He reiterated to reporters on Wednesday he plans to scale back his work on DOGE to one to two days a week.
When asked whether that setup will also eventually end, Musk said it is “at the discretion of the president.”
“I’m willing to continue on average, one to two days a week, which probably means coming to D.C. every other week for three days, type of thing,” he said.
The Tesla CEO acknowledged some of the pushback his DOGE work received, as the cost-cutting effort made high-profile mistakes and faced dozens of lawsuits. Several suits name Musk himself, questioning the legality of his wide-ranging role in the administration.
His electric vehicle manufacturing company Tesla became a political lightning rod as the weeks went on, with protestors taking out their frustrations at company showrooms, charging stations and some vehicles.
Many of the protests were peaceful, though became violent with Molotov cocktails thrown at vehicles or shots fired at dealerships.
“It’s like 60 percent fun, 70 percent fun. Depends on the week,” Musk said. “I mean, being attacked relentlessly is not super fun. So, you know, seeing cars burning is not fun. But, when I feel like we’re doing good for the American taxpayer and stopping wasteful spending and fixing computer systems, I feel like that’s a good thing.”
His ambitious goals to cut trillions of dollars in government spending have been tempered slightly during his brief stint in the administration. While Musk initially set his sights $2 trillion in cuts, he later lowered his target to $1 trillion.
He claimed Wednesday that DOGE has cut between $150 and $160 billion. When asked about his earlier trillion-dollar goal, he said it would be possible but that “it’s a longer road to go.”
“How much pain is the Cabinet and Congress willing to take? It could be done but it requires dealing with a lot of complaints,” he added.
Musk’s descriptions of intensity of the first few weeks resemble his leadership at his other technology companies. His leadership style has been described as reckless or intense and he previously claimed he slept on the floor of Tesla manufacturing sites to maximize his time doing the job.
The beginning weeks of DOGE earlier this year were marked by chaos and confusion as the group carried out mass layoffs and spending cuts across federal agencies. As he did when taking over companies like X, then known as Twitter, Musk and a loyal group of deputies slashed the things he deemed unnecessary.
Even as Musk winds down his work, White House officials have emphasized that DOGE will remain, although it’s unclear to what extent. Musk’s DOGE staffers have been embedded in federal agencies across the administration.
Musk described the work of DOGE as a “volunteer organization,” stating staffers can be with DOGE for as long as they want, noting “it’s up to them.”
When asked whether the House and Senate DOGE Caucuses, which were created in tandem with Trump’s initiative, will continue if he departs, Musk said he will be meeting with members soon.
“The meetings that I’ve had with the House and Senate on DOGE have been extremely positive, sometimes, there will be like, there are things that needs to be cleared up or we’re not going to be perfect, we’re going to make mistakes sometimes. So we fix the mistake,” he said.