Remember Elon's last day in the White House? On May 30th he appeared alongside President Trump in the Oval Office for a quick press briefing.
Musk was sporting a small but noticeable black eye.
Elon said his 5-year-old son punched him while horsing around.
Steve Bannon (not a fan of Elon) claimed that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Musk had gotten into a physical altercation, although the timing wouldn't line up with the black eye in late May. We don't know if it really was the result of a punch from his son, but the timing is a bit suspicious.
At the time of his departure, Musk had been arguing with the President over tariffs and the size of the Big Beautiful Bill. Along with the fact that the bill eliminated electric vehicle tax credits (which hurt Tesla).
However, the two seemed to be on friendly terms during that final press briefing. It would be another week before their fight got nasty.
But we're not going to rehash the beef between Musk and Trump.
Today we're going to explore why DOGE failed, and what it means for the country going forward.
Mr. Musk came to D.C. with high hopes for stomping out corruption and slashing spending. He claimed DOGE would save trillions and crush shady dealings inside the Beltway.
And I believe he was 100% sincere in his efforts. With the President's backing, many of us were hopeful about what the two could accomplish.
But it appears that once Musk arrived in the swamp and started mucking around, he quickly realized how daunting (and dangerous) the task was.
In February he posted the following about federal fraud:
The post got an incredible 103,000 retweets, 584,000 likes, and 51.8 million views. This shows how desperately Americans want to cut spending and end corruption.
And during a rally in late March, Elon told supporters there would soon be arrests over massive social security fraud:
"This is someone who actually stole 400,000 social security numbers and personal information from the Social Security database, and was selling social security numbers and all the identification information in order for people to basically steal money from Social Security.”
But no arrests ever happened.
Why? We have at least one clue.
In an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast in March, Elon said:
“I actually have to be careful that I don’t push too hard on the corruption stuff because it’s gonna get me killed, you know?”
The 2025 U.S. federal budget deficit is projected to be around $1.9 trillion. That's up from $1.8 trillion in 2024. In 2026, the CBO says it will be $1.7 to $2.2 trillion. If we get a recession, it'll be way higher than that.
Unfortunately, DOGE didn't come close to meeting its lofty goals. Neither have President Trump's efforts to reign in spending. At best, they slowed the growth a bit and trimmed some fat from a few federal agencies.
The swamp and its creatures remain firmly entrenched. Unbothered. The deep state, lobbies, and special interest groups retain their power, regardless of who's in charge.
I am once again convinced that there is no stopping this train. The reckless spending and corruption will continue until the system implodes.
It will take a major crisis to bring about true change. I suspect that will come in a massive wave of money printing and inflation. Eventually the government will be forced to downsize dramatically.
And to be clear, the American people's anger can affect change. But there's not enough of it yet. There will be, though. I can feel it smoldering.
Throughout history, actual change is made by disaffected young people. It'll be no different this time. And young people today have plenty to be upset about.
Elon and President Trump tried to reform the system from within. It didn't work. The swamp won.
Now, we wait for the inevitable. A crisis big enough to bring about the required change. It won't be fun, but it is necessary.
The Daily Reckoning