CNN
–
Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man who is making a drastic effort to rebuild the federal government, is the most in his widespread movement during a question-and-answer session in an oval office late Tuesday. It provided sustained defense.
When President Donald Trump saw him from his seat at Resolute Desk, Musk stood a few feet away, wearing a long black coat, accompanied by his 4-year-old son X, but a massive business deal with the government denied that there exists. To a conflict of interests in his role in leading government efficiency.
He then brushed off questions about the authorities he was using to destroy the entire agency, and instead said Trump’s election last November amounted to enough licenses to carry out voters’ wills. I stated.
“People voted for a massive government reform, and that’s what people are trying to get,” he said. “That’s what democracy is all about.”
Musk hugged him at length and gave a fierce assessment of federal bureaucracy. He explained that he existed as an unelected “con man” who accepted kickbacks.
“The reality is, I think they’re getting rich at taxpayer costs,” Musk said. “That’s the honest truth.”
He and the president speak almost every day about what action to take and where and where within the vast federal government to focus his attention, Musk said. His actions sparked five alarm fires among Congressional Democrats.
Beware of its scrutiny and caution on musks from the legislature to courts, citizens and citizens. Tuesday’s appearance is also an effort to remove a bit of mysticism, and AIDS is not an unfair operator within the government, but an effort to get the White House to show Musk working in the direction of the president. there was. Musk’s relationship with Trump was fully on display.
Still, the appearance was generally Musk himself, and Trump remained to sit and listen. At various moments, Trump stepped in via asking masks to explain further about some of the waste he claimed to have found within the government.
“He’s a successful guy, so we want him to do this,” Trump said. “The man who failed doesn’t want to do this.”
Musk, who admitted to voting for Joe Biden four years ago, became one of Trump’s biggest benefactors last year. He spent more than $1.5 billion in the final months of the 2024 race to boost Trump’s candidacy.
Both men touted aggressive efforts to reduce and remake the federal government, saying they sent American voters to the White House to reform the Washington system. Trump has rejected government watchdogs or inspectors at government agencies in the city and raised countless surveillance questions.
In the middle of an oval office session, Mask’s son climbed onto his father’s shoulder and began playing with his hair, urging him to remove the black “make America great again” hat on his mask.
Musk provided little evidence for his various allegations, including fraud and waste blanket allegations. And he admitted, frankly, that he would sometimes make the claim that it was not true.
“Some of what I say is wrong and needs to be fixed. So no one’s going to hit 1000,” Musk said. “I mean, if you know, we make mistakes, but we act quickly to correct the mistake.”
In the latest move to significantly reduce the number of federal employees, Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday, telling agency leaders that he “consistent with applicable laws to massive cuts (RIFs). “We’ll take immediate action on preparing to start.”
The agency will also work with Doge to reduce the size of its workforce and limit employment to mandatory positions, according to a White House fact sheet. There are approximately 2.4 million federal employees, not including postal workers.
The Trump administration last week promised a widespread layoff between federal employees who did not receive a postponed resignation offer suspended by a federal judge. Over 65,000 workers have accepted the offer, but it has yet to achieve its goal of winning a White House resignation of 5% to 10%.
The order calls for prioritization of cuts between federal offices that Trump targeted in the first weeks of his inauguration.
Also, according to the fact sheet, the department will see which department or organization may be eliminated or combined because its functions are not required by law.
The order specifies that reductions do not apply to public safety, immigration enforcement, or law enforcement agencies.
Over the past three weeks, Trump has required employees in the federal government’s office of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility to be placed on paid administrative leave. He moved to dismantle the US International Development Agency, but a federal judge temporarily blocked the plan. On Sunday, employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency were told that the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., was closed this week and that they would need to work remotely.
Also, Tuesday’s executive order severely limits its ability to attract more staff in the federal sector once the employment freeze introduced by Trump is lifted. They are allowed to replace one of the four employees leaving.
The mask speaks in the oval office, seeking to highlight his belief that “transparency builds trust,” claiming that all his team’s efforts have been made public on Doge’s social media accounts and websites I did.
But he also seemed to rub some of the scrutiny he was undergoing and compare it to the “daily declarative exam.”
Earlier in the day, White House officials said that masks would not have to file public financial disclosures and would ensure that the world’s wealthiest man will provide public scrutiny for potential conflicts. Ta. Various companies in Mask have billions of dollars in government contracts.
“As an unpaid special government employee who is not a board member of the committee, he will submit a confidential financial disclosure report per standard,” a White House official told CNN.
And on Tuesday, the Watchdog Group filed a lawsuit to retrieve records from Doge, claiming it was constructed to keep communications secret.
Sitting behind the desk, Trump in his oval office suggested that it was his call to intervene if his administration believes there is a lack of transparency or conflict of interest.
“We won’t forgive him,” Trump said.
It was an extraordinary scene when snow fell outside the oval office. Trump looked quietly for a few minutes, and as Musk was in charge of the room, the mask, standing behind the desk with the decisive cover of Time magazine, suggests that he was in charge, not Trump. I quietly looked it up less than a week after I drew it as if I was doing it.
Musk, a South African-born entrepreneur, cannot become president. However, he envisions one of the government’s most unelected positions despite holding billions of dollars in government contracts.
“All of our actions are fully public,” Musk told a reporter who asked about the conflict of interest. “So if you see something like, ‘Elon, there might be a conflict there,’ it’s going to make people embarrassed about it. They’re going to say that soon. ”
This story has been updated with additional details.
