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Elon Musk\u2019s interview with CBS Sunday Morning seemed to get off to an awkward start, as reporter David Pogue asked the SpaceX CEO about his thoughts on his ally Donald Trump\u2019s policies, including growing restrictions on international students<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we want to stick to the subject of the day, which is, like, spaceships, as opposed to, you know, presidential policy,\u201d Musk said.<\/p>\n Pogue looked surprised, replying, \u201cOh, okay, I was told, \u2018Anything\u2019s good.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Musk said, while looking into the distance. \u201cWell \u2026 no.\u201d<\/p>\n He did, however, comment on the controversy around his Department of Government Efficiency<\/a>, which has been making aggressive cuts across federal agencies, and which Musk complained had become \u201cthe whipping boy for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf there was some cut, real or imagined, everyone would blame DOGE,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Musk also suggested that he\u2019s \u201ca little stuck in a bind\u201d when it comes to the Trump administration, where \u201cI don\u2019t want to speak out against the administration, but I also don\u2019t want to take responsibility for everything the administration\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Pogue\u2019s interview was conducted before SpaceX\u2019s Starship test flight<\/a> on Tuesday, which saw the ship successfully launch but lose control on reentry. Asked whether there\u2019s anything linking his various companies \u2014 in addition to SpaceX, there\u2019s Tesla (which faces ongoing anti-Musk protests<\/a>), xAI and X (formerly Twitter), Neuralink, and The Boring Company \u2014 Musk replied, \u201cI guess you could think of the businesses as things that improve the probable trajectory of civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time, Musk was supposedly pulling back from his government work<\/a> but said he would remain involved for a \u201cday or two\u201d per week. He told Pogue, \u201cDOGE is going to continue, just as a way of life. And I will have some participation in that, but as I\u2019ve said publicly, my focus has to be on the companies at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n Pogue noted that after their conversation, an interview clip of Musk\u2019s comments criticizing the Trump-backed budget bill<\/a> drove a news cycle of their own \u2014 and soon after, Musk said he was ending his time as a special government employee<\/a>. Trump, however, subsequently said Musk is \u201cnot really leaving.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \n