Musk on his involvement in politics: ‘I got carried away’

Technology Musk on his involvement in politics: ‘I got carried away’ Comments: by Julia Shapero - 07/24/26 10:22 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Julia Shapero - 07/24/26 10:22 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Tech mogul Elon Musk reflected on his brief venture into politics in a new interview released Thursday, suggesting he “got carried away.”

“I think I got a little too involved in politics,” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO told The Economist. “I got carried away frankly.”

Musk took an increased interest in politics amid the 2024 elections, pouring more than $250 million into backing President Trump. After Trump won, he announced the billionaire would head up a cost-cutting effort known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“The goal with the sort of DOGE stuff was to try to do something about the deficit, which is massive,” Musk said in the interview.

“We need to sort of take a close look at spending and make sure that money is being spent in sensible ways and that it is not wasted or spent on fraudulent activities,” he added. “And I got a lot of flak from this.”

DOGE was highly controversial, as it led to sweeping job and funding cuts across the federal government. It officially shut down operations on July 4.

However, the initiative’s efforts had been waning for more than a year following Musk’s departure in late May 2025.

The contentious nature of his work at DOGE spilled over onto his companies, particularly Tesla, which saw its stock sink sharply during his brief four-month stint in the Trump administration.

Musk became embroiled in a public dispute with Trump shortly after leaving the White House over a sweeping spending bill, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that was championed by the president.

The tech mogul threatened to launch a third party, but the effort never got off the ground. He and Trump appear to have mended their rift, with Musk attending a White House dinner last November and joining the president on a trip to China with other tech leaders in May.

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