President Trump thinks it’s “crazy” that a federal judge has blocked the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing a key Treasury Department payment system, he told Fox News’s Bret Baier in an interview that aired ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday.
“No, I disagree with it 100 percent,” Trump said when asked about U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer’s decision, which claimed there was a risk of “irreparable harm” if Elon Musk’s DOGE had access to the payment system.
The order temporarily pauses DOGE’s access to the system that distributes Americans’ tax returns, Social Security benefits, disability payments, and federal employees’ salaries. Engelmayer ordered any information that had been downloaded and distributed to staff after Trump took office to be destroyed. The order cites concerns about “the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking.”
“I think it’s crazy,” Trump said. “We have to solve the efficiency problem, fraud, waste, abuse.”
He pointed to his administration’s work in shutting down the work of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is supposed to oversee humanitarian, development, and security programs in more than 100 countries. However, the agency has a track record of prioritizing race-based and equity projects.
“We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars of money going to places it shouldn’t be going,” Trump said, adding that he’d rather trim the fat in the federal budget by having the Department of State disperse the “good” money while cutting off the extra spending that occurred under USAID.
“I don’t know if it’s kickbacks, I don’t know what’s going on,” the president said. “I ran on this, and the people want me to find it, and I’ve had a great help with Elon Musk, who’s been terrific.”
Baier asked Trump if he trusts Musk, leading Trump to say that the head of DOGE is “not gaining anything” through his work for the government.
“In fact, I wonder how he can devote the time to it,” Trump said of Musk. “He’s so into it. I told him I’m going to tell him very soon — like maybe in 24 hours — to go check the Department of Education.”
The president suggested that Musk will ensure fiscal efficiency in the DOE, and then the military, and promised to root out hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud and abuse.
The pre–Super Bowl presidential interview is a tradition that had fallen by the wayside in recent years, as Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, opted to forgo the interview.
During the interview, which was filmed at Mar-a-Lago, Trump also discussed his recent trade agreements with Mexico and Canada. Last week, he agreed to delay the imposition of sweeping tariffs on Mexico and Canada by one month after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to send troops to protect their borders with the United States.
However, Trump has insisted that neither country has done enough to avoid tariffs at the end of the 30-day period. “Something has to happen, it’s not sustainable and I’m changing it,” he said.