Elon Musk surprised his fans and foes alike during a call with Wall Street analysts on Wednesday where he waded into his future with the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency and what the cost-cutting agency may look like without him at its helm.
The Tesla founder spoke on a quarterly earnings call where his presence was ostensibly intended to reassure investors fearful of recent declines in the EV company’s stock. While there, he expressed gratitude toward the DOGE staff and President Donald Trump for believing in his mission to see the federal government both streamlined and downsized in record time.
“I think that the work that we’re doing there is actually very important for trying to rein in the insane deficit that is leading our country, the United States, to destruction, and the DOGE team has made a lot of progress in addressing waste and fraud,” he said, hinting that he has faced “blowback” from entrenched interests upset that his agency has disrupted their revenue streams.
They “will try to attack me and the DOGE team and anything associated with me,” he added.
In order to protect the integrity of DOGE’s work, Musk revealed he has begun preparations to end his time as a special government employee working at the pleasure of President Trump. Doing so is the only way to ensure that DOGE’s legacy remains intact, he said.
“If the ship of America goes down, we all go down with it,” Musk warned.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Musk suggested that the recent protests and vandalism occurring at Tesla dealerships are being provoked by welfare recipients who “won’t admit” that their benefits are fraudulent but will find “some other” excuse for protesting the work by Musk and DOGE.
“The large slug of work to get the DOGE team in place and working in the government, to get the financial house in order, is mostly done, and I think starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” he said, adding he may have to continue advising on countermeasures to fraud “for the remainder of the president’s term.”
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A departure by Musk would be the most significant personnel change since the start of the Trump administration. Musk, who invested more than $250 million in get-out-the-vote initiatives to elect President Trump, has frequently been at his side, so much so that detractors have derided him as the White House’s “co-president.”
Despite his desire to accomplish the largest downsizing of the government in U.S. history, Musk is keenly aware how his time away from Tesla has negatively impacted the company. Its stock price has fallen 71% over the first three months of the year, according to ABC News, while total revenue failed to meet analysts’ expectations.
Musk also downplayed the significance of criticisms he had previously made about pro-tariff advisors surrounding President Trump.
“I’ve been on the record many times as saying that I believe lower tariffs are generally a good idea,” he told call attendees.