In a Sunday interview, President Donald Trump asserted that Elon Musk, who is overseeing a major shake-up of US government jobs, will help uncover “hundreds of billions of dollars” in fraud and abuse within federal agencies.
Ahead of the Super Bowl, Trump spoke to Fox News, saying that the American people have long expected him to root out government waste. He praised Musk, the world’s wealthiest individual and a key figure in the president’s cost-cutting initiative, for his efforts in exposing unnecessary government spending.
“We’re going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse. The people elected me for this,” Trump stated in interview excerpts released by Fox.
Since taking office, Trump has signed a series of executive orders aimed at drastically reducing federal spending. Musk, who heads SpaceX and Tesla, was appointed to lead efforts under the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
While the administration has cited certain government programs Trump believes should be cut back or eliminated, there has been no concrete evidence presented to support claims of widespread fraud.
Musk, a prominent Trump supporter and major donor, has already taken bold actions to reduce staff at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), eliminating thousands of positions. The DOGE team has also raised concerns after accessing Americans’ personal and financial data via the US Treasury.
On Friday, a federal judge temporarily halted the administration’s move to put 2,200 USAID employees on paid leave. The following day, another judge issued an emergency order blocking DOGE from accessing sensitive payment systems held by the Treasury Department.
Trump also revealed that he plans to have Musk target the Department of Education next, a frequent Republican point of contention. “Then I’m going to go to the military,” Trump added, reiterating his desire to review Pentagon spending, which amounts to roughly $850 billion annually.
Musk’s role has sparked criticism, particularly because his companies have received over $20 billion in government contracts, according to Democratic Representative Mark Pocan.
Democratic opposition to the administration’s actions has been vocal. Senator Chris Murphy warned of a “billionaire takeover” and called Trump’s approach an “assault on the Constitution.” Murphy criticized the president’s efforts, claiming they were intended to reward political allies and punish enemies, thereby undermining democratic processes.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a key Republican leader, downplayed concerns over the speed of the changes, asserting that he was not “uncomfortable with the pace” of the reforms. Johnson, who plans to watch the Super Bowl with Trump in a New Orleans stadium suite, described Musk’s role as that of an “outside auditor,” uncovering significant “abuses of the public fisc,” referring to the total funds available for government spending.
