Elon Musk tries to stick to spaceships

Elon Musk’s interview with CBS Sunday Morning appeared to get off to an ungainly begin, as reporter David Pogue requested the SpaceX CEO about his ideas on his ally Donald Trump’s insurance policies, together with growing restrictions on international students.

“I feel we wish to follow the topic of the day, which is, like, spaceships, versus, , presidential coverage,” Musk mentioned.

Pogue seemed shocked, replying, “Oh, okay, I used to be informed, ‘Something’s good.’”

“No,” Musk mentioned, whereas trying into the gap. “Effectively … no.”

He did, nonetheless, touch upon the controversy round his Department of Government Efficiency, which has been making aggressive cuts throughout federal businesses, and which Musk complained had develop into “the whipping boy for all the things.”

“If there was some lower, actual or imagined, everybody would blame DOGE,” he mentioned.

Musk additionally advised that he’s “somewhat caught in a bind” with regards to the Trump administration, the place “I don’t wish to communicate out in opposition to the administration, however I additionally don’t wish to take duty for all the things the administration’s doing.”

Pogue’s interview was performed earlier than SpaceX’s Starship test flight on Tuesday, which noticed the ship efficiently launch however lose management on reentry. Requested whether or not there’s something linking his numerous corporations — along with SpaceX, there’s Tesla (which faces ongoing anti-Musk protests), xAI and X (previously Twitter), Neuralink, and The Boring Firm — Musk replied, “I suppose you might consider the companies as issues that enhance the possible trajectory of civilization.”

On the time, Musk was supposedly pulling back from his government work however mentioned he would stay concerned for a “day or two” per week. He informed Pogue, “DOGE goes to proceed, simply as a lifestyle. And I’ll have some participation in that, however as I’ve mentioned publicly, my focus needs to be on the businesses at this level.”

Pogue famous that after their dialog, an interview clip of Musk’s comments criticizing the Trump-backed budget bill drove a information cycle of their very own — and shortly after, Musk mentioned he was ending his time as a special government employee. Trump, nonetheless, subsequently mentioned Musk is “not really leaving.”