Elon Musk is talking to the media again.
After months of largely avoiding sit-down interviews as he devoted time to DOGE, the tech titan suddenly seems to be all over the place.
Across five recent and forthcoming interviews, Musk has reflected on the work of DOGE, offered some criticism of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, and indicated he’s trying to spend less time on politics and more time on his companies.
Here’s what you should know about what he said in each interview.
Bloomberg: Musk says he’s spending less on politics
Perhaps the biggest revelation from Musk’s sit-down with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum last week is that he’s no longer going to be spending big on politics, like he did in the 2024 election.
“I think I’ve done enough,” Musk said. “If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason.”
If the tech titan holds true to those comments, Republicans will be losing out on what could have been tens of millions of dollars in political spending. Last year, Musk spent nearly $300 million, mostly on Trump.
He also said that it’s up to Trump and Congress to make the project of DOGE a success.
“The DOGE team has done incredible work, but the magnitude of the savings is proportionate to the support we get from Congress and from the executive branch of the government in general,” Musk said.
CNBC: New Tesla announcements
Musk’s CNBC interview, which also took place last Tuesday, was mostly about Tesla.
Related stories
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
He said that within just a matter of months, there could be 1,000 of the company’s robotaxis on the streets of Austin, Texas.
“We’ll start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40,” Musk said. “It will probably be at 1,000 within a few months.” He’s previously said the ramp-up will be quick.
He also mentioned that he still planned to be in Washington on a weekly basis, even as he spends more time on his companies.
“My rough plan on the White House is to be there for a couple days every few weeks, and to be helpful where I can be helpful,” Musk said.
Ars Technica: Musk says he’s spent too much time on politics
Musk spoke with Ars Technica, a tech-focused publication, in an Q&A published on Tuesday.
Though he mostly talked about SpaceX, he also said he’s been too involved in politics since wading into the 2024 presidential race last year.
“I think I probably did spend a bit too much time on politics,” Musk told the outlet. “It’s not like I left the companies. It was just relative time allocation that probably was a little too high on the government side, and I’ve reduced that significantly in recent weeks.”
The Washington Post: Musk laments that DOGE has become a ‘whipping boy’
In an interview with the Washington Post, also published on Tuesday, Musk said that the “federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized” and that it’s an “uphill battle trying to improve things” in Washington, DC.
He also lamented the political backlash that DOGE has generated, especially from Democrats.
“DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,” he said. “So, like, something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.”
That backlash has extended to his companies, particularly Tesla.
“People were burning Teslas,” Musk said. “Why would you do that? That’s really uncool.”
CBS: Not a fan of the ‘big beautiful bill’
In an interview with CBS — a network that’s currently in the midst of a legal battle with Trump — Musk criticized the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which is the centerpiece of the president’s legislative agenda because it adds trillions to the deficit.
“I was like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk said. “I think a vote can be big, or it could be beautiful. I don’t know if it could be both.”
And that’s just what we know from a clip that was released on Tuesday. The rest of the interview is set to air on Sunday, June 1.
