Elon Musk has acknowledged that his involvement in U.S. politics and the Department of Government Efficiency went further than he intended. “I think I got a little too involved in politics,”
Elon Musk has acknowledged that his involvement in U.S. politics and the Department of Government Efficiency went further than he intended.
“I think I got a little too involved in politics,” Musk said in an interview with The Economist published on July 23.
“Got carried away, frankly.”
Dogecoin fell sharply after the interview was released, extending the memecoin’s recent losses despite having no formal connection to the government initiative that shared its DOGE acronym.
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President Donald Trump established the Department of Government Efficiency by executive order on Jan. 20, 2025, tasking it with modernizing federal technology and improving government efficiency.
Musk became the initiative’s most visible figure as it pushed to reduce federal spending, contracts and staffing. His appointment as a special government employee was limited to 130 days, and his government role ended in late May 2025. DOGE’s cost-cutting work continued after Musk’s departure until the initiative officially terminated on July 4, 2026.
During the July 23 interview, Musk continued to defend the initiative’s work but conceded that politics had taken too much of his attention.
His latest comments echo an earlier admission that he would have prioritized his businesses differently.
“I think instead of doing Doge, I would have basically worked on my companies,” Musk previously said.
Dogecoin traded near $0.0723 shortly before the interview’s publication before falling below $0.07, according to CoinMarketCap data shown in the accompanying chart.
DOGE dropped to approximately $0.0685, representing a decline of more than 5% from its pre-publication level. It was also down around 4.9% over the previous seven days.
Dogecoin drops after Elon Musk's statement: CoinmarketcapThe Department of Government Efficiency and Dogecoin are unrelated.
However, their shared acronym and Musk’s years of public support for the memecoin have kept the two closely connected in traders’ minds.
Attention and sentiment surrounding Musk’s social media activity have historically influenced Dogecoin’s market performance.
Dogecoin has repeatedly reacted quickly to Musk’s statements, endorsements and jokes. This time was no exception, with DOGE trading at about $0.0686 at the time of writing.
Related: Ex-Trump advisor believes Bitcoin will grind higher after crashing
