Elon Musk has admitted he got "intoxicated" and "carried away" while working with Donald Trump's new administration. The world's first trillionaire was a vocal supporter of Trump on the 2024 campaign trail and bankrolled Republican efforts to return to the White House.
Musk thrust himself into the centre of US politics and oversaw sweeping cuts to federal organisations, despite having no official government title. His stated objective via the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was to reduce government spending.
Musk's admission on The Builders podcast
Speaking to Walter Isaacson on The Builders podcast on Wednesday, Musk admitted he became too involved in President Trump's administration from January to May, 2025. He said: "I think I should have been more in the background and, probably, only had it last for a month or two because at that point you've sort of seen most of what there is to see within a month of two."
When asked if he became "intoxicated" with injecting himself into the political realm, Musk replied: "Yeah, I think that's true, yeah. I got carried away, basically, yeah. I mean, I so I ended up leaving, I guess, sometime in May." "That was a weird weekend," Isaacson replied.
Departure and rift with Trump
Musk's departure in May 2025 came one day after the trillionaire said he was "disappointed" with Trump's budget bill that proposed tax cuts and substantial increases in military spending, which was expected to significantly add to the national debt. "No, let's let sleeping dogs lie or whatever, you know," Musk continued. "Let's not put a spade down in the backyard type of thing. You never know what you're going to find."
Musk later sparked a major rift in the Republican Party after he publicly accused Trump of being in the Epstein Files. He flooded his platform X/Twitter with criticism of the president's handling of files connected to the late child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Political spending and reconciliation
Trump heaped pressure on Republicans who wanted to release the files before relenting and allowing party officials to vote to have them made publicly available after it appeared the GOP would not have enough votes to block a measure being passed. Musk and Trump have since healed their rift in time for the US Midterm elections.
It later emerged Trump was indeed named in the Epstein Files, though the White House pushed back against any claims of wrongdoing. Emails also revealed Musk emailed Epstein following the child sex offender's 2008 conviction, asking about attending a party on Epstein's Caribbean island - the SpaceX chief ended up not attending due to scheduling conflicts.
The trillionaire has again bankrolled rescue missions to save Republicans from losing their seats in the US House and Senate. It is estimated Musk has directly contributed some $366 million (£276 million) in a bid to prevent Democrats from winning control of Congress and stifling Trump's agenda.
