Flashback: Top five wildest moments from Elon Musk's DOGE tenure as it comes to an end

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced his departure from DOGE connected societal media Wednesday aft 5 months of viral moments and cuts that sparked some praise and contention nationwide. Fox News Digital compiled 5 of the apical memorable moments from that span. 

Tesla photograph sprout astatine the White House with President Trump

As Musk’s efforts to chopped authorities discarded resulted successful outrage from Democrats and convulsive protests astatine Tesla dealerships crossed the country, on with a dip successful Tesla’s banal price, President Donald Trump announced helium was going to acquisition a Tesla and met with Musk extracurricular the White House to look astatine options.

"I’m going to bargain a brand-new Tesla time greeting arsenic a amusement of assurance and enactment for Elon Musk, a genuinely large American," Trump announced.

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Musk announced his past time arsenic the nationalist look of DOGE this week. (DOGE via X/Getty)

"To Republicans, Conservatives, and each large Americans, Elon Musk is ‘putting it connected the line’ successful bid to assistance our Nation, and helium is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! But the Radical Left Lunatics, arsenic they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, 1 of the World’s large automakers, and Elon’s 'baby,' successful bid to onslaught and bash harm to Elon, and everything helium stands for," Trump said connected Truth Social. 

Trump and Musk were photographed examining antithetic Tesla models and sitting wrong them.

Musk got successful connected the rider broadside and joked astir "giving the Secret Service a bosom attack" arsenic they talked astir however to commencement a conveyance that tin scope 60 miles per hr successful a fewer seconds.

"That's beautiful, this is simply a antithetic sheet . . . everything's computer!" Trump remarked, successful a remark that went viral connected societal media. "That's beautiful! Wow!"

Trump told reporters that helium would constitute a cheque for the car helium chose, which retails for astir $80,000, and permission it astatine the White House, truthful his unit could thrust it. The president besides said helium hopes his acquisition volition boost Tesla, which was struggling with sagging income and declining banal prices astatine the time.

Iron Mountain revelation

One of the astir notable DOGE revelations arsenic it scoured the authorities for waste, fraud, and maltreatment was Musk’s announcement successful February that his bureau was looking into a limestone excavation successful Pennsylvania wherever helium said national worker retirements are processed manually utilizing a strategy that could instrumentality months. 

"We're like, well, what? Why is that? Well, due to the fact that each the status paperwork is manual connected paper," Musk said. "It's manually calculated and written down connected a portion of paper. Then it goes down to excavation and like, what bash you mean, a mine?"

DOGE wrote connected X that an aged limestone excavation successful Boyers, Pennsylvania, astir 60 miles northbound of Pittsburgh, is wherever astir 700 workers run much than 230 feet underground to process astir 10,000 national status applications per month.

The applications are processed by manus utilizing paper, and are stored successful manila envelopes and cardboard boxes, DOGE said.

The Washington Post described the installation arsenic a "sinkhole of bureaucracy" successful a 2014 article. At the time, the study said the full spending connected the status strategy was $55.8 million. 

"And past the speed, the limiting origin is the velocity astatine which the excavation shaft elevator tin move, determines however galore radical tin discontinue from the national government," Musk said. "And the elevator breaks down and sometimes, and past you can't, cipher tin retire. Doesn't that dependable crazy?"

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President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's son, "Lil X," connected the South Lawn connected March 14, 2025, successful Washington. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Lil X steals the amusement astatine the White House

Musk’s 4-year-old son, Æ A-12, besides known arsenic "Lil X," was often seen accompanying his begetter for visits to the White House and Capitol Hill successful caller months, often going viral connected societal media. 

In February, Lil X made headlines aft attending an Oval Office gathering and mimicking his begetter portion helium spoke, astatine 1 constituent sitting connected Musk’s shoulders and putting his fingers successful the erstwhile DOGE chief’s ears, and holding onto the Resolute Desk. 

"This is X, and he's a large guy. High IQ," a chuckling Trump said, adding that the lad is simply a "high-IQ individual."

In March, heartwarming photographs of Trump walking to the president's helicopter, Marine One, with Elon Musk’s lad went viral connected societal media, with net users doting implicit the joyful moment. 

Explosive interviews with ‘Big Balls’ and the DOGE team

Musk sat down with "Special Report" enforcement exertion Bret Baier for a revealing behind-the-scenes interview with members of his squad earlier successful March and offered antecedently unseen glimpses into the enactment being done.

Musk, on with DOGE members Steve Davis, Joe Gebbia, Aram Moghaddassi, Brad Smith, Anthony Armstrong, Tom Krause and Tyler Hassen, illustrated cardinal efforts of the section to execute Trump's goal. Davis brought up national recognition cards, which helium labeled a "mundane" but "illustrative" illustration of DOGE's work.

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President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk depart aft looking astatine Tesla vehicles connected the South Lawn of the White House connected March 11, 2025, successful Washington. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

"There are successful the national authorities astir 4.6 cardinal recognition cards for astir 2.3 to 2.4 cardinal employees. This doesn't marque sense. So 1 of the things each of the teams person worked connected is we've worked for the agencies and said, 'Do you request each of these recognition cards? Are they being used? Can you archer america physically wherever they are?'" Davis explained.

"Clearly determination should not beryllium much recognition cards than determination are people," Musk responded.

The eight-man radical besides discussed DOGE's enactment relating to the national workforce, fiscal management, authorities infrastructure, machine systems, Social Security and more.

"They whitethorn qualify it arsenic shooting from the hip, but it is thing but that," Musk said, noting that the agency's attack to cuts is to "measure twice, if not thrice, and chopped once."

Earlier this month, Musk and his squad gave a 2nd revealing interrogation to "Jesse Watters Primetime," outlining examples of discarded they had discovered successful government. 

As the squad shared cases of wasteful spending from apical departments to smaller agencies, Watters asked however the findings made Musk and the DOGE members feel.

"Unfortunately, similar the 100th clip you've heard it, it's hard not to get a small numb, and by the 200th time, you're like, well, OK, it was conscionable different time astatine the office," Musk replied.

One DOGE member, who joined Musk connected "Jesse Watters Primetime," revealed that helium had dropped retired of Harvard University to "serve my country," but faced backlash. 

"It's been unfortunate to spot mislaid friendships. Most of field hates maine now, but I think, fundamentally, I anticipation radical recognize done conversations similar this that betterment is genuinely needed," helium said.

In the interview, 19-year-old DOGE squad subordinate Edward Coristine revealed how helium got the nickname "Big Balls," which had received important chatter online. 

Coristine went connected to accidental that the strategy that distributes authorities oregon payer wealth "literally has nary checks and nary accountability to the existent American taxpayer."

"So, it’s a immense vector for fraud, waste, and abuse."

Dismantling of USAID

Out of the galore agencies that experienced cuts during Musk’s clip astatine DOGE, USAID was possibly the astir discussed and astir affected by DOGE’s findings. 

In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that 83% of USAID programs would beryllium canceled pursuing the decision of a six-week reappraisal by DOGE.

In total, 5,200 contracts were to beryllium terminated, Rubio wrote on X, announcing the caller reforms. He said the canceled contracts amounted to "tens of billions of dollars" being spent "in ways that did not serve," oregon adjacent harmed, the nationalist interests of the U.S.

Rubio added that the remaining 18% of USAID programs—approximately 1,000—would present beryllium managed by the State Department. The determination to transportation that authority, helium said, was made successful consultation with Congress. 

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Then-White House Senior Advisor Elon Musk walks to the White House aft landing successful Marine One connected the South Lawn connected March 9, 2025, successful Washington. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Several examples of questionable spending were made nationalist by DOGE, including wherever Biden's USAID awarded $20 cardinal to a nonprofit called Sesame Workshop to nutrient a amusement called "Ahlan Simsim Iraq" successful an effort to "promote inclusion, communal respect and knowing crossed ethnic, spiritual and sectarian groups." 

More than $900,000 went to a "Gaza-based panic charity," called Bayader Association for Environment and Development, and $1.5 cardinal went to a programme slated to "advance diversity, equity and inclusion successful Serbia's workplaces and concern communities."

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel, Stephen Sorace and Associated Press contributed to this report.