Elon Musk’s interview with CBS Sunday Morning appeared to get off to a clumsy begin, as reporter David Pogue requested the SpaceX CEO about his ideas on his ally Donald Trump’s insurance policies, together with rising restrictions on worldwide college students.
“I think we want to stick to the subject of the day, which is, like, spaceships, as opposed to, you know, presidential policy,” Musk stated.
Pogue seemed stunned, replying, “Oh, okay, I was told, ‘Anything’s good.’”
“No,” Musk stated, whereas trying into the gap. “Well … no.”
He did, nevertheless, touch upon the controversy round his Department of Government Efficiency, which has been making aggressive cuts throughout federal businesses, and which Musk complained had change into “the whipping boy for everything.”
“If there was some cut, real or imagined, everyone would blame DOGE,” he stated.
Musk additionally steered that he’s “a little stuck in a bind” when it comes to the Trump administration, the place “I don’t want to speak out against the administration, but I also don’t want to take responsibility for everything the administration’s doing.”
Pogue’s interview was carried out earlier than SpaceX’s Starship check flight on Tuesday, which noticed the ship efficiently launch however lose management on reentry. Asked whether or not there’s something linking his varied firms — as well as to SpaceX, there’s Tesla (which faces ongoing anti-Musk protests), xAI and X (previously Twitter), Neuralink, and The Boring Company — Musk replied, “I guess you could think of the businesses as things that improve the probable trajectory of civilization.”
At the time, Musk was supposedly pulling again from his authorities work however stated he would stay concerned for a “day or two” per week. He instructed Pogue, “DOGE is going to continue, just as a way of life. And I will have some participation in that, but as I’ve said publicly, my focus has to be on the companies at this point.”
Pogue famous that after their dialog, an interview clip of Musk’s feedback criticizing the Trump-backed funds invoice drove a information cycle of their very own — and shortly after, Musk stated he was ending his time as a particular authorities worker. Trump, nevertheless, subsequently stated Musk is “not really leaving.”