Elon Musk tells Katie Miller that DOGE was only “somewhat successful” and that he wouldn’t repeat the experience
In a cordial sit-down with Katie Miller, a longtime aide and conservative influencer who once spoke on behalf of DOGE, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk admitted that his DOGE initiative barely met his expectations and that he wouldn’t embark on the same venture again. While defending some aspects of President Donald Trump’s short-lived federal initiative, Musk also lamented the challenges of reforming the federal government quickly and acknowledged the toll the DOGE project took on his various businesses as popularity waned.
Musk described the DOGE effort as “a little bit successful” and “somewhat successful” when Miller pressed him on the question of whether he would repeat the experience. He suggested that, had he the chance to start over, he would have focused more on his existing companies rather than pursuing DOGE.
Reflecting on a lighter note, Musk even hinted that the situation could have been different if not for public protests—joking that “they wouldn’t have been burning the cars,” a reference to consumer protests involving Tesla.
Despite his mixed assessment of DOGE, Musk has seen brighter days since departing from Trump’s administration. Tesla shareholders recently approved a compensation package worth potentially trillions of dollars, positioning Musk to become the world’s first trillionaire if certain milestones are met.
Musk spoke as a guest on the “Katie Miller Podcast,” a project Miller launched after leaving government service to join Musk’s private ventures. Their conversation, which lasted over 50 minutes, covered a range of topics from DOGE and AI to social media, conspiracy theories, and fashion.
Miller did not press Musk for granular details about DOGE’s operations or the controversial ways it reportedly permeated federal agencies and data systems.
During the discussion, Musk credited the DOGE initiative with helping reduce what he described as $200 billion in annual “zombie payments” through improved automation and more efficient federal payout systems. Yet the figure appears modest next to his earlier, broader promises of trillions in potential savings from an envisioned efficiency commission. Miller has not publicly commented on the interview.
