US president claims DOGE will save hundreds of billions of dollars without cutting healthcare and welfare benefits.
United States President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk have defended their sweeping cost-cutting drive in a joint interview in which the two men lavished each other with praise.
In an interview with Fox News that aired on Tuesday, Trump said he had tapped Musk to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as he wanted someone “really smart” to work with.
“I respect him; I have always respected him. I never knew that he was right on certain things, and I am usually pretty good at this stuff. He did Starlink, he did things that were so advanced and nobody knew what the hell they were,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity, referring to Musk’s satellite internet service.
Trump said that Musk and his “100 geniuses” were ensuring his executive orders got implemented to avoid the experience of past administrations that were frustrated by bureaucracy.
“He has got some very brilliant young people working for him that dress much worse than him actually. They dress in just t-shirts; you wouldn’t know they have 180 IQ,” Trump said, praising Musk as a “leader” who “gets it done”.
Musk, in turn, showered Trump with praise.
“I love the president. I want to be clear about that,” Musk said. “I think that President Trump is a good man.”
“The president has been so unfairly attacked in the media – it’s really outrageous,” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO continued.
“At this point, I have spent a lot of time with the president, and not once have I seen him do something that was mean or cruel or wrong. Not once.”
The two men also mocked suggestions by some critics that Musk had usurped Trump’s authority as president.
“Actually, Elon called me. He said, ‘You know they are trying to drive us apart.’ I said, ‘Absolutely,’” Trump said.
“You know, they said, ‘We have breaking news. Donald Trump has ceded control of the presidency to Elon Musk. President Musk will be attending a Cabinet meeting tonight at eight o’clock.’ And I said, ‘It’s just so obvious.’ People are smart, they get it.”
Musk’s DOGE has overseen the laying off of about 20,000 federal government employees so far and earmarked some 200,000 more for dismissal.
Critics have accused Musk of acting without legal authority, cutting government functions haphazardly without proper consideration and jeopardising Americans’ privacy by seeking access to sensitive data such as taxpayer information.
Concerns have also been raised about the South African-born billionaire’s influence over the government given that he does not hold elected office.
In Tuesday’s interview, Trump claimed that DOGE would be able to find “hundreds of billions” of dollars in savings without making cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits despite those programmes making up nearly half of government spending.
“It’s going to be strengthened – but won’t be touched. Medicare, Medicaid – none of that stuff is going to be touched,” he said.