Elon Musk wields chainsaw on stage, says he and Trump are battling 'the matrix'

Elon Musk took to a stage in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, waving a blinged-out chainsaw gifted by Argentina's President Javier Melei.

Musk, wearing a black "Make America Great Again" hat at the Conservative Political Action Conference, was there to give a crowd of Republican supporters an update on the Department of Government Efficiency. The chainsaw he wielded alluded to slashing government spending, a symbol Melei used to promote cost-cutting measures in his own country and which Musk has praised him for in the past.

"This is the chainsaw for democracy," Musk, the unofficial leader of DOGE, told the crowd. "Legalize comedy . . . It seems like we should have a good time, you know."

On stage in an interview with TV personality Rob Schmitt, Musk critiqued the Biden administration and said that he shifted political alignment from "neutrality" to aligning with the Trump administration's Republican party because he felt he had "no choice."

"I thought we were sort of heading to a point of no return, really," he said. "And so that's why it was so essential that President Trump won the election and that there be a Republican majority in the House and Senate, which thanks to you has been accomplished."

He told the crowd: "We need to restore the fundamental elements of what made America great, which is freedom and opportunity."

Musk also addressed being "villainized" by legacy media organizations in the U.S., saying that his decision to buy social media platform X was to secure "freedom of expression." He called legacy media an echo chamber and said it should be defunded by the federal government.

Musk said recent DOGE cuts will help the federal government save Medicare and Social Security. He also said the public should have the right to see the gold horde at Fort Knox military base in Kentucky.

“All this gold at Fort Knox, it’s the public’s gold. It’s your gold so I think you like have a right to see it," Musk said. “It should be a live tour like you can see what’s going on, what’s behind it.”

He also criticized the Biden administration's positions on immigration, calling migrant entry into the country a "giant voter importation scam."

Schmitt said Musk and the Trump administration are facing rhetoric that they are "screwing with things that aren't supposed to be messed with." Musk agreed.

"We're fighting the matrix big time here," Musk said. "It's got to be done."

Contact Kayla Jimenez at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.