Musk: Operating his own business with "great difficulty" while fulfilling DOGE responsibilities

News on March 11, according to Wall Street Journal reports, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in an interview after the US stock market closed on Monday that he is operating his company with "great difficulty" while also fulfilling his duties as head of the Government Efficiency Department (DOGE) under the Trump administration.

Musk revealed in the interview that there are already over 100 members in the DOGE team and it may expand to 200 people. Currently, they save more than $4 billion every day and expect to achieve a total savings of $1 trillion.

He stated that DOGE has almost penetrated all departments of the U.S. government and is recruiting from financial and technological fields. He plans to serve another year in the Trump administration. On the same day, Tesla's stock price plummeted by more than 16% during trading hours and fell by more than 15% at close, marking its worst performance since September 2020.

As of closing time, Tesla had fallen by over 54% from its historical high set in December 2023, evaporating about $800 billion in market value. Analysts believe that uncertainty about tariff policies under Trump's administration and Musk's political comments damaging brand image are major reasons for this decline. Since Musk took office under Trump's administration, Tesla’s share price has been falling for seven consecutive weeks - making it longest downward trend since its listing in 2010.