Elon Musk in his last remarks before leaving the White House compared himself to the Buddha and shared bizarre stories including that he ate an entire tub of President Donald Trump’s ice cream.
Sitting at the Roosevelt Room surrounded by journalists late afternoon on Wednesday, Musk struck up a light-hearted and jovial tone, similar to how he presented himself hours earlier in his last meeting with the Cabinet.
The billionaire was asked who will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), in light of his stepping back.
‘Is Buddha needed for Buddhism?’ Musk said, according to The Washington Post.
‘Was it not stronger after he passed away?’
It was his way of illustrating that DOGE, which he said has about 100 employees, can continue its work of identifying excess spending in the federal government and recommending cuts.
Musk put forth his mantra that ‘DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism’, and likened his efforts as its chief to the work of ex-President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore.
‘We’re basically Democrats from the 1990s who got teleported into 2025,’ he said.
During the more than hourlong casual presser, Musk shared that during his time in the White House, he once consumed a tub of caramel Häagen-Dazs ice cream in one sitting, while sleeping over at the famed Lincoln Bedroom.
Musk said it was Trump who gave him a tour of the bedroom and offered it to him to stay at.
‘He’ll actually call, like, late at night and say, “Oh, by the way, make sure you get some ice cream from the kitchen,”’ recounted Musk, laughing.
‘It was epic. I mean, don’t tell RFK,’ he said, referring to Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
‘This stuff is amazing. I ate a whole tub of it, added three pounds in one night.’
Musk said he spent the night at the bedroom ‘more than once’, but would not disclose the number.
The Tesla chief executive and X owner said he is phasing out his presence in Washington and reiterated he will go back to focusing on running his companies.
‘Being attacked relentlessly is not super fun. Seeing cars burning is not fun,’ he said, in reference to attacks on Tesla dealerships.
Trump and Musk appeared to have a bromance at the start of the president’s second term, but criticism of Musk mounted as DOGE made drastic cost-cutting recommendations.
The public, and even some officials in Trump’s inner circle, grew increasingly fearful of Musk’s influence on the president, and his access to sensitive and top-secret information. In Musk’s final weeks as a special government employee, Trump reportedly put a personal stop to him attending a highly classified meeting on China.
But at a rally celebrating his 100th day in office on Tuesday, Trump had nothing but praise for Musk, calling him a ‘smart guy’ and a ‘great guy’.
”He’s paid a big price to help but I have a feeling it’s going to end up being good for him, I really do,’ said Trump.
Musk said that his West Wing office with a window without a great view will remain his.
‘It’s harder to shoot me there… there’s not a good line of sight,’ he said.
‘I like my comically tiny office upstairs.’
