As Elon Musk begins his departure from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after months of budget-slashing chaos and public outrage, he’s not showing even a flicker of regret. In fact, he’s proud of it.
In a new interview with Lara Trump — yes, that Lara Trump — Musk made it abundantly clear that pairing up with Donald Trump was not only intentional, but, in his words, “essential.” Essential for what? Apparently, for helping the country “reach greater heights,” though many Americans might argue the only thing Musk and Trump have elevated is the national blood pressure.
Once the darling of the media and progressive tech circles, Musk has fully embraced his villain arc, aligning with a president whose political brand thrives on division, denial, and deregulation.
From buying Twitter (now X) and turning it into a circus of chaos, to throwing his full support behind Trump in the 2024 election, Musk has gone from innovator to agitator in record time. And now, in this latest love-fest interview with the Trump family, he’s doubling down on everything that’s made his post-Tesla era an absolute fever dream for the far right.
Asked whether he regrets his work with DOGE or his public support for Trump, Musk didn’t even hesitate. “No,” he said with a smile, as if the massive backlash, street protests, and even the firebombing of Tesla stores were minor hiccups.
In his view, it was all worth it to ensure Trump’s return to power. “I think it was essential for President Trump to win to ensure that America remained great,” Musk said, glossing over the scorched-earth policy approach that has defined both of their careers lately.
Musk’s reasoning veered into conspiracy theory territory when he suggested that Trump’s loss would have allowed Democrats to flood the country with “illegal voters,” turning America into a “one-party state from which we could never escape.”
If that sounds like something you’d hear on late-night fringe radio, that’s because it is — but now it’s part of the official Musk-Trump worldview.
He even claimed that whoever was “controlling the auto pen and teleprompter” during Biden’s presidency was the “real president,” suggesting Joe Biden was little more than a puppet. It’s the kind of rhetoric you’d expect from a Reddit troll, not the former richest man in the world.
Musk has become Trump’s most valuable weapon in their shared war against what they call “woke government waste.” At DOGE, Musk spearheaded massive spending cuts under the banner of “efficiency” — cuts that conveniently gutted diversity initiatives, worker protections, and regulatory oversight.
In just 100 days, DOGE claims to have slashed $160 billion from federal spending. And yet, Americans still aren’t seeing cheaper healthcare, better infrastructure, or improved services. What they are seeing is a government more willing to cater to billionaires than to working people.
And what does Musk have to say about the nationwide backlash, the protests, and the firebombings of Tesla cars and stores? “At least I didn’t get shot,” he quipped, before adding that violence was “somewhat inevitable.”
That’s the kind of gallows humor you get when billionaires cosplay as public servants and treat policy like a startup pitch meeting.
To Musk, the opposition only proves he and DOGE are doing something right. “The outrage shows DOGE’s work is effective,” he said, as though social unrest, institutional collapse, and public distrust were signs of success.
Never mind that these “efficiencies” often translate into people losing their jobs, families being evicted, and critical programs being dismantled.
Meanwhile, Trump is celebrating his 100th day back in office as though it’s a new season of a reality show, complete with a new villain co-star. Together, Musk and Trump have formed a perfectly chaotic duo: one obsessed with cutting everything, the other obsessed with controlling everything. And both seem equally allergic to humility or self-reflection.
When asked about his legacy, Musk didn’t mention electric vehicles or reusable rockets. Instead, he said, “That I was useful in the furtherance of civilization. That I helped move civilization forward.”
A noble sentiment — but hard to square with the damage done under DOGE and his new political alignment. It’s difficult to argue you're helping civilization when you’re actively gutting the institutions that sustain it.
The irony of it all is that Musk once stood for the future — space travel, green energy, innovation. Now, paired with Trump, he represents a future that feels more like a dystopia. Together, they are less a team of reformers and more like a wrecking crew. And America, whether it wants it or not, is the construction site.
