Tech billionaire Elon Musk sat down with Joe Rogan for a three-hour podcast released Friday, addressing the Nazi-likened salute he made at an inaugural event last month, praising his controversial Department of Government Efficiency and exploring conspiracies about the federal government’s gold reserve at Fort Knox.
Rogan’s interview with Musk was released Friday. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty … [+] Images)
Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Key Facts
Nazi salute: Musk, who made a gesture likened to a Nazi salute last month at an inaugural event for President Donald Trump, defended the gesture and said it was “meant in the most positive spirit possible,” with Rogan largely defending Musk before he told the billionaire, “you did it with a little enthusiasm that probably wouldn’t be recommended with hindsight.”
DOGE: Musk claimed DOGE, which has had its authority challenged in court, will save the U.S. an estimated $100 billion per year through changes to the Treasury Department’s payment categorization codes used to identify where department transactions are being made (receipts of supposed cuts and savings made by DOGE have contained discrepancies and errors).
Fort Knox: Musk and Rogan asked an “unhinged version” of Grok, the chatbot developed by Musk’s startup xAI, about the gold supply at Fort Knox that has been questioned in historic conspiracy theories recently boosted by Musk and Trump—provoking the chatbot to ask Rogan if he was a conspiracy theorist, to which Rogan answered “yes.”
Security clearance: While speaking to Rogan about aliens and unidentified aerial phenomenon, Musk said he does not believe top defense companies like Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Boeing have developed advanced propulsion systems for drones, noting he has “the equivalent of an all-access pass from a security clearance standpoint” and that he does not think defense companies could hide information on development of propulsion systems from him.
Meme Cryptocurrency: “Don’t bet the farm on a meme coin” because “you’re not gonna win,” said Musk, who remarked on the absurdity of running DOGE, which had its name inspired by the volatile dogecoin cryptocurrency that Musk once called “the people’s Crypto.”
Epstein files: Rogan claimed there was “a real fear” that evidence linked to late sex trafficker and financier Jeffrey Epstein was being destroyed, scrutinizing the slow release of Epstein-related documents released by the federal government Thursday that lacked groundbreaking information, with Musk saying “I thought we were going to get some revelations.”
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Forbes Valuation
We estimate Musk’s net worth at $359.4 billion, making him the wealthiest person in the world.
Big Number
Over 54 million. That is how many views Rogan’s three interviews Musk since 2020 have garnered, with millions more likely coming from listeners on Spotify, where Rogan’s show ranks No. 2 on the U.S. podcast chart.
Key Background
Musk’s appearance on Rogan’s podcast comes as the billionaire Tesla chief and “special government employee” has faced scrutiny over DOGE, which he has championed as “the first threat to bureaucracy.” Trump has issued two executive orders broadening DOGE’s power as part of a larger effort to slash government spending and reduce the federal workforce. Trump’s executive orders have specifically directed government agencies to consult with DOGE on hiring practices and the removal of federal contracts and grants. The authority of the billionaire-run government agency has been challenged in recent weeks, with states unsuccessfully requesting a restraining order against it that sought to block DOGE from accessing federal data and firing federal workers. Musk has defended DOGE by referring to a wall of receipts posted to its website that show spending cuts made by the agency. However, the receipts have contained errors, with DOGE at one point claiming a contract that was cut from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Diversity and Civil Rights saved $8 billion, when in reality, the contract was valued at $8 million this year. DOGE also deleted from its website five of the biggest reported savings it made from cuts including the ICE contract, three $655 million cuts at the embattled U.S. Agency for International Development and a $232 million cut to the Social Security Administration, according to The New York Times. DOGE’s website did not explain why the deletions were made or how it calculated the $65 billion in savings it claimed to make even after deleting the big spending cuts.
Further Reading
Elon Musk Calls Running DOGE The ‘Most Absurd Outcome’ He Could ‘Possibly Imagine’ (Forbes)