White House senior adviser Elon Musk said he harbors no regrets about heading up the Department of Government Efficiency despite the cost to his Tesla business, adding, "at least I didn't get shot."
Musk made the comments in an interview that aired Saturday as he reflected on his time helping Donald Trump become president and taking a prominent role in the administration.
"It's not been boring, that's for sure. An eventful year, says the least. At least I didn't get shot. Look on the bright side," Musk told "My View With Lara Trump," referencing the assassination attempt on Trump last July in Pennsylvania.
Musk's time leading DOGE is winding down as he plans a return to his companies, namely Tesla, which has seen a 71% drop in profits in the first quarter of 2025 amid the dozens of attacks on vehicles, dealerships, and charging stations in protest of him.
"We have had people shoot up Tesla stores and burn down Tesla cars. I wasn't expecting that level of violence, really."
DOGE under Musk has so far axed $165 billion from federal spending.
"That's what happens when you go after fraud. The people who are receiving the billions of dollars in waste and fraud wanna keep receiving it," Musk told Lara Trump, who is married to second son Eric Trump. "You're necessarily dealing with an unsavory group that is...doing illegal things already and we're stopping them from doing illegal things, obviously they're going to do bad things to me and my companies. Somewhat inevitable I think."
Musk, however, said it was worth it, given what Kamala Harris would have done to the country had she defeated Trump in November.
"Some people out there may be somewhat skeptical. They may think, 'Well, there isn't some Democrat plan to subvert democracy and achieve a permanent one-party, deep blue socialist state.' I assure you, the more you research it, the more you will see it's true," Musk said. "Biden was simply asleep at the switch, he was ineffective regarding illegal immigration.
"No, he was highly effective at ushering in millions of illegal immigrants with a specific gameplan to naturalize them and ensure there were would be no swing states in America anymore," he added.