Elon Musk said in a new interview published Thursday that he became too deeply involved in politics during his time leading the Department of Government Efficiency, offering one of his most direct personal reflections yet on his brief but turbulent tenure inside the Trump administration, even as he continued to defend the agency's overall record.

Speaking with The Economist's "Insider" program, hosted by Zanny Minton Beddoes, Musk acknowledged that his political involvement went further than he had anticipated. "I think I got a little too involved in politics. I got carried away, frankly," Musk said. He offered few specifics about which particular actions or decisions he might reconsider.

President Donald Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency by executive order on his first day back in office, tapping Musk, who had poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Trump's 2024 campaign, to serve as the entity's unelected director. Under Musk's leadership, DOGE launched a sweeping effort to cut federal spending and personnel, ultimately pushing more than 272,000 federal employees out of their jobs through direct firings and a deferred resignation program that nearly 140,000 workers accepted.

DOGE staffers also moved to terminate funding for a range of federal grant programs covering health research, arts initiatives and other government-funded projects, in many cases citing internal assessments that identified those programs as tied to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The........

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