AUSTIN, Texas (PNN) - December 10, 2025 - Elon Musk joined Katie Miller's podcast for a wide-ranging interview, opening with a question about his time at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and whether the effort was worth it.
Musk said DOGE's push to cut waste, fraud and abuse from the federal government was "somewhat successful," but cautioned he wouldn't take on that role again given the backlash from what he described as the DC swamp.
Miller asked Musk, "Would you do DOGE again knowing what you know now?"
Musk responded, "I mean, the thing is, I think in terms of instead of doing DOGE, I would have basically built you know, worked on my companies essentially, and they wouldn't have been burning the cars."
Miller noted, "You gave up a lot to DOGE."
Musk said, “Yes. They really want the money to keep flowing. Um, so if you stop it from flowing, there's like a very strong reaction to stopping the money flowing."
The backlash Musk faced originated from Marxist Left-wing outlaw NGOs and criminal activist groups that targeted Tesla showrooms, outlaw politicians openly rooting for the stock to crash, and a sustained pressure campaign by the broader Marxist Democrat Party machine, which, he argues, sought to damage the Tesla brand. Let us not forget that militant Leftists firebombed Tesla vehicles at showrooms.
It really depends on how one measures success. Musk told Miller the cost-cutting effort was "somewhat successful," but noted that, given the response from outlaw Deep State-aligned activist groups that targeted Tesla, he wouldn't do it again.
"We were a little bit successful. We were somewhat successful. We stopped a lot of funding that really just made no sense, that was entirely wasteful," he said. When Miller asked if he would go back to lead the organization again, he said, "No, I don't think so."
As of early December, DOGE claims on its website to have slashed $214 billion in estimated savings. However, this figure is far from the $2 trillion in savings Musk pitched during the presidential election.
Perhaps not measured in total dollar amount, some of the success came from dismantling corrupt USAID funding pipelines into NGOs and rooting out other fraud, waste, and abuse that funneled into the Communist Democrat Party's machine; then maybe the true nature of DOGE's successes emerges. The lashing out by Communist Left-wing outlaw activist groups and Marxist politicians against Tesla is exactly the response one would expect if you stopped their years of taxpayer looting sprees.
Let's revisit what we said very early in DOGE's noble efforts, noting that while Musk's foray into the DC swamp to drain it to the degree pitched would not be attainable.
What the DOGE effort revealed was that Democrats and their unhinged outlaw Left-wing groups would pursue violence to stop Musk. This is the same political machine currently attacking President Donald J. Trump and America First.