The 2 males talked about Musk’s Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), predicting $1 trillion in suspect spending will probably be discovered.
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk mentioned waste, fraud, abuse, and extra in a joint interview with Sean Hannity that aired on Feb. 18.
Musk additionally sought to make it clear he stands with Trump and vice versa.
“I feel President Trump is an effective man,” the tech entrepreneur mentioned.
Trump reciprocated, saying he “couldn’t discover anybody smarter” than Musk to help his administration.
Musk Would Have Endorsed Trump Even With out Assassination Try
Musk, finest identified for his work with SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and different tech corporations, publicly backed Trump after an try on his life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024. However the tech titan’s help was apparently already within the playing cards.
In the course of the Feb. 18 joint interview, Musk mentioned that he was “going to do it anyway.” The assassination try, which claimed the lifetime of Corey Comperatore, merely accelerated Musk’s timeline.
“I sped it up,” Musk mentioned.
The president mentioned he “didn’t know that” about Musk’s endorsement.
Musk went on to stump for the then-candidate. He additionally donated lots of of hundreds of thousands to backing Trump.
Musk mentioned his time with Trump deepened his appreciation of the president’s character—some extent of rivalry for Trump’s critics, together with a number of the Republicans who contested him through the 2024 main.
“Not as soon as have I seen him do one thing that was imply or merciless or fallacious,” Musk mentioned.
Elon Musk (L) speaks as President Donald Trump seems to be on within the Oval Workplace of the White Home on Feb. 11, 2025. Jim Watson/AFP through Getty Pictures
Trump, Musk Say They Are Not at Odds
The 2 males additionally talked in regards to the publicity round their joint efforts, accusing the media of making an attempt to fracture their relationship.
As DOGE was taking form after Election Day, some information shops reported that Musk’s ascendance was elevating him to a quasi-presidential position, a line of argument superior by some Democrats.
Trump mentioned Musk phoned him to say, “‘You recognize, they’re making an attempt to drive us aside.’”
“It’s simply so apparent. They’re so dangerous at it. I used to assume they had been good at it. They’re truly dangerous at it, as a result of in the event that they had been good at it, I’d by no means be president,” he added.
Musk additionally affirmed his dedication to advancing, and never usurping, the elected president. He identified that his T-shirt learn, “Tech Assist.”
“I’m going to offer the president with expertise help,” he mentioned. “It’s an important factor as a result of the president will make these government orders that are very smart and good for the nation, however then they don’t get carried out.”
Musk on DOGE-Associated Conflicts of Curiosity: ‘I’ll Recuse Myself’
The interview additionally touched on potential conflicts of curiosity between Musk’s companies and DOGE.
Lots of the entrepreneur’s corporations have benefited from in depth authorities help, from subsidies for Tesla’s electrical autos to Pentagon contracts with SpaceX.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a critic of DOGE and Musk, talked about these doable conflicts in an interview with The Epoch Instances earlier on Feb. 18, saying they “should deeply bother progressives.”
Hannity requested Trump about how his administration would deal with potential cuts to such areas. Trump mentioned Musk can be avoided them.
Musk mentioned he would keep away from these minefields, too.
“I’ll recuse myself,” he mentioned.
Musk, Trump Discuss DOGE Employees
The wide-ranging interview repeatedly landed on the subject of DOGE’s staff, which embrace many engineers.
The president mentioned that Musk “attracts a younger, very good kind of individual—I name them high-IQ people.”
“These guys are good, they usually love the nation,” Trump added.
Musk mentioned DOGE’s software program engineers “could possibly be incomes hundreds of thousands of {dollars} a yr as a substitute of incomes a small fraction of that as federal staff.”
Trump described the DOGErs as “very dedicated individuals.”
One DOGE aide within the Treasury Division resigned after reporting revealed his historical past of controversial on-line posts. Vice President JD Vance and Trump supported his rehiring, after which Musk introduced he can be reinstated.
The then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, left, claps as Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk prepares to depart after talking at a marketing campaign occasion on the Butler Farm Present on Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. Alex Brandon/AP Picture
Musk, Trump Talk about Bringing Astronauts Dwelling
The trio additionally mentioned a plan to speed up the rescue of NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.
Initially slated for an eight-day mission, the pair have been caught on the Worldwide House Station (ISS) since June on account of mechanical points with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that will have taken them residence.
Trump, in January, mentioned he requested SpaceX CEO Musk to expedite their return.
NASA has since moved up a scheduled April return to March. Williams and Wilmore will come again to Earth after the SpaceX Crew-10 mission reaches the ISS.
Within the Feb. 18 broadcast, Trump mentioned the 2 “bought left in area,” blaming his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.
Musk mentioned the astronauts’ return “was postponed form of to a ridiculous diploma.”
“We don’t need to be complacent, however we have now introduced astronauts again from the area station many occasions earlier than, and all the time with success,” he mentioned.
On DOGE, $1 Trillion Floated
The pair additionally talked about simply how a lot waste, fraud, and abuse they anticipate DOGE to establish.
The president mentioned DOGE was pinpointing “billions—and it is going to be lots of of billions—of {dollars} price of fraud.”
He predicted Musk would establish $1 trillion in what Hannity referred to as “waste, fraud, abuse, corruption,” including that he believes that to be “a really small share” of that type of suspect spending.
Musk didn’t dispute the trillion-dollar determine.
The technologist mentioned that saving cash for the American taxpayer “comes down to 2 issues: competence and caring.”
“It stands to purpose that in the event you don’t have competence and also you don’t have caring, you’re going to get a horrible deal,” he mentioned.
Trump mentioned that authorities contracts usually are not whittled down by the form of give-and-take widespread to private-sector negotiations.
“Everyone expects to be minimize,” he mentioned.