In a joint interview where the two men praised one another, Donald Trump, president of the United States, and tech billionaire Elon Musk, both defended their massive cost-cutting strategy.
Trump claimed in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday that he had selected Musk to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) because he wanted someone with whom to be “really smart.”
“I respect him, I have always respected him. I never realized he was correct, even though I’m typically 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 claimed that Musk and his “100 geniuses” were working to prevent bureaucratic stifling of his executive orders.
“He employs some very talented young people who dress significantly worse than him,” he claims. 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. “President Trump is a good man,” Trump said.
“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 I haven’t once witnessed him conduct reprehensibility or wrongdoing. Not once”.
Some critics made the suggestion that Musk had taken over Trump’s presidency a mock.
“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. Elon Musk now has more power in the presidency than Donald Trump. Tonight at eight o’clock, President Musk will be meeting with the Cabinet. 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.
By requesting access to sensitive data like taxpayer information, Musk has been accused of acting without legal authority, cutting government functions haphazardly without due consideration, and jeopardizing Americans’ privacy.
Given that he is not a member of the electorate, concerns have also been raised about the billionaire’s influence on the government.
Despite accounting for nearly half of government spending, Trump claimed in the interview that DOGE could find “hundreds of billions” of dollars in savings without cutting Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits.
Source: Aljazeera
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