Elon Musk talks Lincoln Bedroom stays, late-night ice cream as he steps back from DOGE Show Caption Hide Caption Elon Musk goes from spotlight to backseat in Trump's first 100 days Over the course of President Trump's first 100 days in office, Elon Musk has gone from a central figure to a more reduced role. WASHINGTON − Elon Musk never asked to stay in the Lincoln Bedroom. He wants that to be very clear.

That’s just where he says President Donald Trump, who loves giving tours of the famous guest suite, sets him up when he stays over at the White House. “We’ll be on Air Force One, and Marine One, and he’ll be like, ‘Do you want to stay over?’ And I'm like, ‘Sure,’” Musk said. “He’ll actually call, like late at night, and say, like, ‘Oh, by the way, make sure you get some ice cream from the kitchen.’” From late-night ice cream runs at Trump’s invitation ‒ caramel-flavored Haagen Dazs, to be exact ‒ to better decisions he says he could have made, the tech mogul who heads the Department of Government Efficiency pulled back the curtain on his time working, and sleeping, at the White House in a group interview with a dozen journalists.

More: Elon Musk receives round of applause from Trump Cabinet in apparent farewell as DOGE chief Musk, the world's richest man, is preparing to significantly scale back his role leading the cost-cutting DOGE, which has taken a battering ram to the federal government, slashing programs and cutting workforces. Musk has maintained a frequent presence in the White House during Trump's first 100 days, sometimes working in the building that doubles as the president's residence seven days a week overseeing DOGE, he said. But moving forward, Musk said, he expects to spend about a day or two a week working on DOGE matters and "every other week" in Washington as he returns his attention to his electric vehicle company, Tesla.

“Now, we’re getting more of a rhythm, and so the amount of time that it’s necessary for me to spend here is much less, and I can return to primarily running my companies − which they need me," he said. 'DOGE is a way of life,' Musk says Musk's hourlong interview, which took place in the White House Roosevelt Room near the Oval Office, marked his most extensive remarks to a room of reporters ‒ besides his occasional interviews with Fox News ‒ since he launched DOGE at the beginning of Trump's second term. His reduced role comes after Tesla posted first-quarter earnings down 71% during the first quarter of 2025 ‒ the consequences of his increasingly polarizing brand as Trump's chief sidekick.

"I'm proud of the incredible work by the DOGE team. They take a lot of flak," Musk said. "These are people that can easily get a high-paying job in the private sector, and in fact, came from high-paying jobs in the private sector."

Musk said the role has been "60% fun, 70% fun," adding that it "depends on the week." "Being attacked relentlessly is not super-fun. Seeing cars burning is not fun," he said, referring to vandalism against Tesla vehicles.

More: Elon Musk takes a backseat as Donald Trump reaches 100 days in office And while he will be at the White House less, Musk said he expects to retain what he described as a tiny, one-window office. "It has a view of nothing," Musk said, describing looking outside to see an HVAC unit. "Which is fine, makes it harder to shoot me.

… Not a good line of sight." Musk, however, said he has the largest computer monitor in the White House. He said he sometimes plays two of his favorite video games: Diablo and Path of Exile.

The White House has considered Musk a "special government employee," giving him the title of senior adviser to the president, a role that allows him to stay on the job for 130 calendar days a year. But he isn't sure whether he will keep a formal title. "They don't put anything on my card," Musk said.

"Literally, there's nothing on my card. It just says my name." How did Elon Musk become so powerful in Washington?

As leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk has made major changes, but who is Elon Musk and how did he rise in Washington? Asked who on the DOGE team will fill the void, Musk responded: "Is Buddha needed for Buddhism?" "DOGE is a way of life," Musk said on multiple occasions, downplaying the effect his absence could have on the division's survival.

More: Tesla profits plummet 71% amid backlash to Musk's role with Trump administration Musk says $1 trillion goal hasn't changed Steve Davis, a top DOGE aide and longtime Musk loyalist, is expected to assume a larger role in operations. Though Musk has cited his company demands for his diminished role, he has increasingly become a political liability for Trump, multiple polls have suggested. In addition, Musk has butted heads with top administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and trade adviser Peter Navarro.

Musk said his goal for DOGE remains to cut $1 trillion from the federal government by the next fiscal year after he appeared to drastically lower the benchmark to $150 billion in recent remarks. He clarified he was referring to the figure that DOGE has saved so far, which he said has now increased to $160 billion ‒ though the declared savings have sometimes been exaggerated or misleading. "I think it's possible to do that, but there's a long road to go.

… It's really difficult," Musk said. "It's sort of, how much pain is, you know, the Cabinet and this Congress willing to take?

Because it can be done, but it requires dealing with a lot of complaints." He later acknowledged at another point in the interview, "I may not succeed." He said, "There’s a lot of inertia in the government with respect to cost savings."

Musk touted efforts to cut down on Americans fraudulently receiving Social Security benefits through a tweak to a government computer system. DOGE representatives also said the group has uncovered 57 cases of suspected voter fraud that they've turned over to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. 'Not as effective as I'd like' One of DOGE's most controversial actions has been the systematic downsizing of the federal workforce through "fork in the road" voluntary buyouts and terminations of positions.

DOGE aides who attended the interview with Musk said hundreds of thousands of employees will ultimately be reduced from the federal government. Only 1% ‒ about 20,000 employees ‒ of the overall workforce has been fired, aides said, while about 80,000 accepted voluntary “fork in the road” buyouts. Under an executive order Trump signed on the first day of his presidency, the nearly 100-employee DOGE team is set to complete its work in July 2026, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

But ultimately, Musk said, DOGE could exist past that marker "for as long as the president wants." When asked about his biggest regret, Musk said he prefers to refer to them as "better decisions could have been made with the benefit of hindsight." "But of course, hindsight is 2020," he said.

"In the grand scheme of things, I think we've been effective. Not as effective as I'd like ‒ I mean, we could be more effective, but we've made progress." Still, Musk seemed to take delight in the simple fact that DOGE is around.

"It is funny that we've got DOGE," Musk said, bursting into laugher. "I mean, doesn't the absurdity of that seem like: 'Are we in a simulation here, or what's going on? How did we get here?'"

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison and Francesca Chambers @fran_chambers (This story has been updated with more information.)