Tech billionaire Elon Musk‘s efforts that succeeded in bringing back two stranded NASA astronauts gave him a political win after weeks of growing criticism related to his work with the Department of Government Efficiency.
Musk’s SpaceX returned Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to Earth Tuesday evening, with the Crew Dragon capsule landing on the water off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, just before 6 p.m.
The astronauts were only supposed to spend eight days on the International Space Station in June 2024, but after the Boeing Starliner malfunctioned, they were stuck for the next nine months.
“Thanks to the excellent work of the SpaceX team working with NASA, the astronauts are now safely home. And so congratulations to the SpaceX and NASA teams on excellent work,” Musk told Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity. “And a huge note of appreciation to President Trump for prioritizing and expediting their return.”
Trump has repeatedly blamed former President Joe Biden for abandoning the astronauts, most recently making the allegations during a Tuesday evening interview with Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle.
Another Musk business, Tesla, has faced growing vandalism at multiple facilities from critics angered over the billionaire’s work to slash the federal workforce.
“It’s really come as quite a shock to me, that there’s this level of hatred and violence from the Left,” Musk told Hannity. “I always thought the Left, the Democrats, were supposed to be the party of empathy, the party of caring, yet they’re burning down cars, they’re firebombing dealerships, they’re firing bullets into dealerships.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi labeled the vandalism against Tesla as “domestic terrorism” in a statement after five more Tesla vehicles were damaged at the Tesla Collision Center in Las Vegas Tuesday morning.
“The swarm of violent attacks on Tesla property is nothing short of domestic terrorism,” Bondi said.
“We will continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes,” she also said.
Tesla stock has fallen more than 40% since January when Musk joined the Trump administration as a special government employee leading DOGE, although Musk at nearly a $325 billion net worth, according to Forbes, is still the world’s richest person.
Yet, Musk doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. He told Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) during a podcast interview that he sleeps “about six hours on average” as he leads SpaceX, X, and DOGE.
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“I work almost every waking hour,” Musk added. “I literally just have lunch and then have it brought during meetings and continue eating.”
“I have sometimes slept at the office,” Musk said near the end of the episode when asked about his sleeping habits.
