A CBS interview with Elon Musk went off the rails after he was asked about President Donald Trump’s crusade against Harvard.
“I’m wondering what your thought is on the ban on foreign students, the proposal,” Pogue said on CBS’s Sunday Morning. “I mean, you were one of those kids, right?”
“Yeah. I mean, I think we wanna stick to, you know, the subject of the day, which is, like, spaceships, as opposed to, you know, presidential policy,” Musk replied.
“Oh, okay,” Pogue replied. “I was told anything is good, but—”
“No, well—no,” Musk said.
The Trump administration announced on May 22 it was revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students, of which it has approximately 6,800. The move has since been blocked by the courts.
Musk later went back on his refusal to talk politics, however, lamenting that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had become a “whipping boy” for those opposed to his slash-and-burn cuts to federal programs.
“It’s a bit unfair because, like, DOGE became the whipping boy for everything. So, if there was some cut, real or imagined, everyone would blame DOGE,” he said.
Musk brought up the Trump administration—and his gripes with it—all on his own.
“And you know, it’s not like I agree with everything the administration does,” he said. “I agree with much of what the administration does. But we have differences of opinion. You know, there are things that I don’t entirely agree with.”
“But it’s difficult for me to bring that up in an interview because then it creates a bone of contention,” he added. “So then, I’m a little stuck in a bind, where I’m like, well, I don’t wanna, you know, speak up against the administration, but I also don’t wanna take responsibility for everything this administration’s doing.”
Musk also remarked on Trump’s “big, beautiful” spending package that passed the House. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the package would add $3.8 trillion to the federal debt over 10 years, and Musk told CBS he was “disappointed” to see the package’s cost.
“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,” Musk 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.”
Shortly after CBS released a clip of Musk’s comments on the spending bill on Tuesday, Musk announced on X that he would officially leave his role as a “special government employee.” He told CBS he would still have some involvement with the agency, but he wanted to prioritize his companies.
“DOGE is gonna continue, just as a way of life,” he said. “I will have some participation in that, but as I’ve said publicly, my focus has to be on the companies at this point.”
