"This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy," said Musk, holding the gleaming power tool aloft at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

The red metallic chainsaw, given to Musk by Milei earlier in the day, was engraved on its side with the Argentine leader's coarse Spanish slogan: "Viva la libertad, carajo," which loosely translates to "Long live freedom, damn it!"

Musk is leading sweeping cuts under US President Donald Trump that have targeted bank regulators, forest workers, rocket scientists and tens of thousands of other government employees.

On Thursday, 6,000 employees at the US Internal Revenue Service were told they would be fired, a person familiar with the matter said. 

The world's richest person, who was clad in sunglasses, a baseball cap and a large necklace, paraded the chainsaw up and down the stage before laying it to one side and declaring he was "living the meme."

"We're trying to get good things done. But also, like, you know, have a good time doing it, and... a sense of humor," Musk said of his cost-cutting efforts, which so far have seen him gut the agency responsible for delivering US aid to the poorest countries in the world and fire thousands of federal workers.

Later he again picked up the chainsaw and carried it off stage at a center on the outskirts of the capital Washington.

Musk was not the only one in a celebratory mood at CPAC, as conservatives revelled in Trump's return one month ago. 

Vice President JD Vance said he had been having "a hell of a lot of fun" in the weeks since the Republican billionaire took back the White House. 

"The president keeps us on a pretty breakneck pace," he told the fired up crowd, adding: "It's been a hell of a lot of fun the past month."

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