Billionaire Elon Musk was recently spotted touring Utah’s Arches National Park.
Well, kinda.
On Saturday, July 12, visitors to the park were greeted by a 12-foot tall sculpture of the tech kingpin’s head, his expression chiseled into a self-satisfied smirk. The massive effigy was towed around the park in a trailer behind a white pickup truck.
The sculpture was accompanied by a sign emblazoned with “MAKE AMERICA WAIT AGAIN” and below that “Now With Longer Lines Thanks To DOGE Cuts!”
The stunt appears to be an act of protest against Musk’s work as the head of the newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has since left his role in the federal government, but under his tenure, DOGE was responsible for significant cuts to staff and budget, including the Department of the Interior (DOI) and its National Park Service (NPS), as well as other DOI agencies responsible for the management of public lands.
The federal government’s gutting of public land management has sparked widespread protest. According to the National Parks Conservation Association (NCPA), a nonprofit, the NPS has lost 24 percent of its staff since January as a result of the cuts. President Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” which was signed into law on July 4, cuts an additional $267 million from the park service’s budget. This all comes as park visitation has risen year-on-year, to a record-setting 331.9 million in 2024.
So, who made the giant Musk head? The phrasing on the sign is similar to that used in a series of billboards placed outside many U.S. national parks earlier this summer by a labor advocacy group, More Perfect Union. More Perfect Union’s founder, Faiz Shakir, told Outside that although the Elon Musk head was a “creative” idea, his organization had nothing to do with the project.
A Family Vacation Interrupted by Elon’s Head
Nancy Carmichael, a mother of two from Florida, was touring Arches National Park with her family when the trip was interrupted by the giant head. Carmichael told Outside she was “excited” by the sighting, and that she and her husband decided to follow the sculpture for a few minutes as it was towed by the truck.
“We saw the big Elon head driving around—that’s something you don’t see everyday,” she said. “I personally think it was a creative way to protest, and to people to think about the things that are going on at a higher level and how they trickle down to the park.”
Carmichael toured Arches National Park over the weekend and said that, despite waiting in a line to enter the park, she did not encounter queues or interruptions in service. Carmichael said that onlookers seemed curious when the head drove by, and sight of it elicited questions and laughs.
“People seemed receptive to it,” she said. “It was a protest but not your typical protest.”
Frederick Dreier contributed to this report.
