


Fox News host Jessica Tarlov confronted billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday over his glaring conflicts of interest as an adviser for President Donald Trump.
“So you’ve been making cuts to a lot of the agencies that have open investigations and regulatory battles with your companies,” said “The Five” host of Musk’s push to purge the federal budget of wasteful spending with his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
She continued, “At the same time you continue to get billions in government contracts. Tesla gets billions in subsidies. How do you explain that to the American people?”
Tarlov has previously called out the world’s richest man over his businesses’ ties to Washington as companies SpaceX and Tesla received at least $18 billion in federal contracts over the past decade, according to spending data detailed by ABC News.
At least 11 federal agencies impacted by firings under Trump’s second term have also led investigations, have pending lawsuits against, or imposed other actions against Musk’s companies, The New York Times found in February.
Musk, in his Fox News appearance, stumbled as he seemingly dodged Tarlov’s question by turning away from his companies to focus on DOGE.
“Well, everything that DOGE does is an open book so we’re, I think, the most transparent action — most transparent organization in government ever,” he claimed.
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He later added, “I am under such an extreme spotlight, so much scrutiny that it is literally impossible for me to get away with anything nefarious, obviously nor do I wish to.”
On Monday, Trump told reporters that Musk will leave the White House “at some point” to go back to his businesses.