President Trump is sending a clear message to critics of the Elon Musk-led push to cut government spending: get used to it.
Mr. Trump said Mr. Musk is doing a “terrific” job in leading the Department of Government Efficiency and rejected the idea that the world’s richest man has something to gain from the effort.
“Oh, he’s not gaining anything,” Mr. Trump said Sunday in a pre-taped interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, set to run before the Super Bowl. “In fact, I wonder how he can devote the time to it. He’s so into it.”
Mr. Musk and his DOGE team shook Washington last week after the Trump administration moved to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development and gained access to the U.S. Treasury’s payment system.
However, a federal judge on Saturday restricted Trump administration officials’ access to the Treasury records. The temporary block came after 19 Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit arguing that DOGE violated the law.
Democrats have said Mr. Musk is out to enrich himself and the push to shut down the USAID, which is charged with delivering humanitarian assistance overseas, is putting lives at risk across the globe.
“I think this is the most serious constitutional crisis the country has faced, certainly, since Watergate,” Sen. Chris Murphy said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “The president is attempting to seize control of power and for corrupt purposes.”
“The president wants to be able to decide how and where money is spent so that he can reward his political friends, [and] he can punish his political enemies,” the Connecticut Democrat said. “That is the evisceration of democracy.”
In his Fox interview, Mr. Trump said Mr. Musk showed that USAID was a mess. He said Mr. Musk is helping him follow through on a campaign promise and that he expects him to find the “same thing” at the Pentagon and the Department of Education.
“We’re going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse,” Mr. Trump said. “And, you know, the people elected me on that.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.