Elon Musk’s interview with CBS Sunday Morning appeared to get off to a bumpy begin, as reporter David Pogue requested the SpaceX CEO about his ideas on President Donald Trump’s insurance policies, together with growing restrictions on international students.
“I believe we need to keep on with the topic of the day, which is, like, spaceships, versus, you realize, presidential coverage,” Musk mentioned.
Pogue appeared shocked, replying, “Oh, okay, I used to be instructed, ‘Something’s good.’”
“No,” Musk mentioned, whereas trying into the gap. “Properly … no.”
He did, nevertheless, touch upon the controversy round his Division of Authorities Effectivity, which has been making aggressive cuts throughout federal companies, and which Musk complained had grow to be “the whipping boy for every part.”
“If there was some minimize, actual or imagined, everybody would blame DOGE,” he mentioned.
Musk additionally prompt that he’s in “slightly caught in a bind” with regards to the Trump administration, the place “I don’t need to converse out in opposition to the administration, however I additionally don’t need to take duty for every part the administration’s doing.”
Pogue’s interview was carried out earlier than SpaceX’s Starship take a look at flight on Tuesday, which noticed the ship efficiently launch however lose management on reentry. Requested whether or not there’s something tying collectively his numerous firms — along with SpaceX, there’s Tesla (which faces ongoing anti-Musk protests), xAI and X (previously Twitter), Neuralink, and The Boring Firm — Musk replied, “I assume you could possibly consider the companies as issues that enhance the possible trajectory of civilization.”
On the time, Musk was supposedly pulling again from his authorities work however mentioned he would stay concerned for a “day or two” per week. He instructed Pogue, “DOGE goes to proceed, simply as a lifestyle. And I’ll have some participation in that, however as I’ve mentioned publicly, my focus must be on the businesses at this level.”
Pogue famous that after their dialog, an interview clip of Musk’s comments criticizing the Trump-backed budget bill drove a information cycle of their very own — and shortly after, Musk mentioned he was ending his time as a particular authorities worker. Trump, nevertheless, subsequently mentioned Musk is “not really leaving.”