Musk admits DOGE cost-cutting drive falls short

Elon Musk said the results of his massive cost-cutting drive on US government spending did not quite meet its original ambition after facing pushback, including from within the Trump administration.

"It's sort of, how much pain... are the cabinet and is Congress willing to take? Because it can be done, but it requires dealing with a lot of complaints," he told an assembled group of US media on Wednesday.

The interview, conducted after a cabinet meeting that could be Musk's last, was published by multiple outlets on Thursday.

Musk is widely expected to reduce his role as the unofficial head of the administration's cost-cutting "Department of Government Efficiency" to focus more on his troubled car company, Tesla.

The "DOGE" effort grabbed headlines from day one of President Donald Trump's return to the White House, with Musk-led teams entering government agencies to pore over spending and launching massive -- and often chaotic -- rounds of layoffs and other reforms.

The drive has seen Musk's public image take a beating, with Tesla dealerships becoming scenes of protest and vandalism in the United States and beyond.

That experience has been "not super fun," Musk said.

Musk acknowledged that so far, DOGE has cut $160 billion in federal spending -- short of the original $2 trillion goal.

Deeper cuts would require reducing the government's biggest cost bases: pensions and healthcare for retirees, and the defense budget.

DOGE was originally intended to operate until July 4, 2026, but Musk said the effort could continue through the entire four years of the Trump administration.

"It's up to the president," he said.

Indicating that he will not be completely gone, Musk, the world's richest person, said he plans to keep his small White House office when he is in Washington one to two days a week.

He insisted that, with or without him, "DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism."

"Buddha isn't alive anymore. You wouldn't ask the question: 'Who would lead Buddhism?'"

Trump on Wednesday told Musk he could stay in his administration "as long as you want," though acknowledging that he may want "to get back home to his cars."

The Tesla tycoon said that he has slept in the White House's Lincoln bedroom on several occasions at the president's invitation.