Elon Musk awkwardly dodges questions on Trump’s policies, tells interviewer to 'stick to spaceships'
BASTROP, TEXAS: Elon Musk’s tense interview with CBS took an awkward turn after he deflected questions about his ally and President Donald Trump’s policies.
The 53-year-old Tesla CEO recently sat down with CBS correspondent David Pogue to discuss an array of topics, with Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) being one of the main ones.
On May 28, Musk announced his departure from DOGE amid mounting pressure from Tesla's board.
Addressing the criticism DOGE has received since its establishment at the start of the year, Musk stated that the agency "became the whipping boy."
"I've had some people think that DOGE is somehow going to stop them getting the social security check, which is completely untrue," he shared, according to Unilad.
Elon Musk dodges questions about Donald Trump’s policies during 'CBS Sunday Morning' interview
Elon Musk’s pre-taped 'CBS Sunday Morning' interview kicked off on the wrong foot as he dodged David Pogue’s questions about Donald Trump’s policies, including soaring tariffs and restrictions on foreign students.
“I noticed that all of your businesses involve a lot of components, a lot of parts,” Pogue said. “Do the tariffs and the trade wars affect any of this?”
Musk shook his shoulders and said, "Ugh, you know, tariffs always affect things a little bit."
“Wondering what your thought is on the ban on foreign students — the proposal. I mean, you were one of those kids, right?” Pogue again asked.
Looking seemingly uncomfortable, the tech mogul took a long pause before asking Pogue to stick to the topic. "I think we want to stick to the topic of today, which is spaceships as opposed to presidential policy," Musk said.
The journalist went on to insist that he was told "anything was good" to talk about. Musk laughed nervously and said, "Well... no.”
Elon Musk disappointed by Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
Although Elon Musk dodged questions about Donald Trump’s tariff, David Pogue did manage to make him say a few words on the president’s much-ballyhooed sweeping tax bill, passed by Republicans in the House last month.
“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, doesn’t decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” the Tesla CEO said.
“I think a bill can be ‘big’ or it can be ‘beautiful,’ but I don’t know if it could be both. My personal opinion,” he added, according to The Daily Beast.
The tax and spending bill, which Trump calls his “big, beautiful bill”, would extend the president’s 2017 tax cuts, boost defense and border security spending, and implement new requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, among other things.
Musk’s comments echoed the sentiments of several Republicans who opposed the Trump-backed bill, stating it would be too expensive and require further expenditure cuts.
After his 2024 election victory, the MAGA leader picked Musk to head DOGE, which was in charge of large federal layoffs, agency closures, and the termination of government contracts, some of which have been contested in court.
Musk stated that the project would save at least $1 trillion in federal spending, and DOGE's website claims to have saved taxpayers an estimated $175 billion thus far.
However, several nonpartisan groups estimated that Trump’s bill would add $3 trillion or more to federal budget deficits over the next decade, with tax cuts that are only partially offset by spending reductions.
