Elon Musk appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on February 20, taking place in the US state of Maryland, wearing a black outfit, a hat with the slogan "Make America Great Again" and sunglasses. Immediately after that, the crowd cheered when Argentine President Javier Milei, who also attended the event, brought out a chainsaw and handed it to the billionaire.

“This is a chainsaw for bureaucracy,” Mr. Musk shouted as he held up a chainsaw. He posted a picture of himself holding the saw on social media X, which received more than 14 million views in less than four hours.

According to The Hill, President Javier Milei often brings a chainsaw to political events, as a symbolic image of his goal of cutting down the government apparatus in Argentina.

Mr Musk's image at CPAC suggests the American billionaire will continue his sweeping cuts through the US Government Efficiency Committee (DOGE).

At the event, Mr. Musk was asked by the host about the information that President Donald Trump’s administration plans to use the money saved from budget cuts to pay down the federal debt and give money to Americans. “It’s money taken from things that are messing up the country and from organizations that hate you and give it back to you. That’s a great thing,” he said, adding that President Trump also supports the plan.

Before Mr. Musk arrived at CPAC, Reuters reported that the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had laid off about 6,700 employees on February 20. When asked about the possibility of closing the IRS, Mr. Musk smiled slightly and nodded but did not answer.

In a development related to the US government personnel issue, federal judge Christopher Cooper on February 20 rejected a request from the state employee union to block a plan to cut large-scale personnel. This is considered another legal victory for the Trump administration, which has faced many lawsuits since a series of moves to streamline the apparatus and reduce spending.