Musk may be gone, but he should not be forgotten.
Elon Musk may have left his “unofficial” position with DOGE (an “unofficial” agency), but he should not be forgotten. His brief tenure at the center of the Trump administration reveals why Trump’s government will continue to be dangerous, and the actions that Musk took will continue to have a lasting impact, inside and outside the U.S. Here’s my case.
First, Musk’s blatant bribery into this position previewed the naked corruption that has defined Trump 2.0 so far. Musk donated around $288 million to Trump’s campaign. In March, Musk said he intended to put an additional $100 million into Trump organizations but then, in May, said he would cut back on future political contributions. What did Musk get for his “donations”?
When Trump took office there were 32 open government investigations of Musk’s companies by 12 different departments and agencies. Many of these departments and agencies were severely cut by DOGE, investigations were dropped or Trump changed the regulations. For example, Trump loosened rules on self-driving cars that Tesla was in violation of and, as a result, were under investigation. In addition to dropped investigations, Musk’s companies have around $15.4 billion in contracts with the government. Overseeing the “agency” cutting government spending ensured that none of the contracts with Musk’s companies would be cut.
It gets worse. Leaked State Department documents show that countries were threatened with high tariffs unless they approved purchases of Starlink satellites for their countries. This is the textbook definition of corruption. In addition, after gutting the FAA, they have apparently agreed to lease Starlink equipment to assist with communication. The State Department also had planned to purchase $400 million in armored electric vehicles from Tesla, but after the plan was exposed, the department has put a hold on the purchase for now.
There has been a cost to Musk as well. He has lost a reported $45 billion in net worth this year, mostly due to the fall in Tesla’s stock price. Perhaps he did not anticipate the animus directed at him because of his actions. The stock price will likely recover now that he is out of the spotlight, and some of those losses will be regained. The elimination of investigations, loosening of regulations, and government contracts for his companies will have a longer lasting effect.
Second, the actions by DOGE in the early parts of the administration became a model for later unconstitutional acts by the Trump administration. Remember the scene of quasi-government employees with nicknames like “Big Balls” forcing their way into government departments and accessing sensitive data? The model set was to act fast and deal with the consequences later. How can the data taken by Musk and his cronies be recovered? For the numerous government employees who were fired illegally, how long will it be before they are reinstated or compensated?
This is similar to actions taken with respect to immigration. Get people on a plane and send them to El Salvador quickly, and then when the courts say to bring them back, claim you can’t do anything about it. The illegality and unconstitutionality of DOGE was a proverbial canary in the coal mine of what was coming with Trump 2.0. There are over 130 ongoing lawsuits related to DOGE actions. It will take a while for them to be resolved, but the consequences of DOGE actions were felt immediately.
The other part of act first, ask questions later is that you make a lot of mistakes. DOGE famously fired workers tasked with the safety of nuclear weapons, only to ask them to come back. In fact, this happened with hundreds of employees across multiple agencies. Then there is the infamous email asking workers to list five things they accomplished that week. The emails caused confusion and chaos and are now on their way out. Whether it’s Hegseth’s anti-DEI pursuit in the Department of Defense or the back and forth on tariffs, Trump 2.0 has been characterized by a certain incompetent, malevolent buffoonery. The actions of DOGE were an early sign.
Third, DOGE promised a lot and underdelivered. This is a hallmark of Trump and Musk, but seems to especially be true of Trump 2.0. Musk suggested they would cut $2 trillion. At best they have saved $175 billion but as the story suggests, they will likely end up costing more money than they saved. Again, overpromising and underdelivering is a hallmark of Musk. 14 years ago, he promised to put a man on Mars in 10 years, Tesla is notorious for not meeting delivery expectations, and instead of creating a hyper-train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, he could only manage a short loop around Las Vegas.
Of course, these types of failures are not uncommon to Trump. The “successful” businessman with multiple bankruptcies, the person who was going to build the wall and make Mexico pay for it, the person who was going to bring down grocery prices on day one and solve the Ukraine-Russia conflict in 24 hours. Outrageous promises without following through is a trademark of Trump’s style. It’s about the show more than delivering.
Finally, the results DOGE did manage to provide are devastating. Cutting USAID programs has resulted in an estimated 300,000 plus deaths worldwide, a vast majority of which are children. 300,000! To put that in perspective, according to Zelensky at the end of last year, 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war with Russia.
The lack of concern for the devastating consequences of actions is a hallmark of Trump 2.0, and his first administration as well. The claims that COVID only killed people who already had something wrong with them, or RFK Jr’s claims that only unhealthy kids die from measles, or Joni Ernst responding to concerns about Medicaid/Medicare cuts with “well, we’re all going to die”. All these show at best, a callous disregard of human life and, at worst, targeted malevolence.
The estimates of deaths caused by DOGE cuts in USAID only apply to foreign countries. It does not estimate deaths caused in the U.S. or future deaths caused by ending research funding on diseases. The spectacle of the world’s richest man illegally cutting life-saving medical assistance to the poorest kids in the world is straight out of a movie. But somehow, it has not fully received the attention it should have.
Musk will want people to forget his foray into government work and Trump and other Republicans will want to distance themselves from Musk. The problem is that DOGE will continue its work and even if it were to stop, it is not the problem. It is indicative of the larger problems with Trump and his administration. A priority on showmanship over competence, quick illegal actions with devastating consequences, corruption, and callous disregard for the loss of life of the most vulnerable. Musk leaving the spotlight should not mean that these characteristics are also forgotten.