Former U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk, who has been assigned to cut federal spending, reports directly to him and cannot take any action without his approval.
The statement comes amid growing concerns over the access Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been granted within the federal government’s payments system.
These concerns intensified after Musk announced plans to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a move that has sparked sharp criticism from lawmakers.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump clarified the extent of Musk’s authority, stating that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO could only remove personnel deemed unnecessary, and even then, only with presidential approval.
“Elon has only the authority to let go of people he thinks are no good, but only if we agree with him,” Trump said. “Elon can’t and won’t do anything without our approval. We’ll give him the go-ahead where appropriate, and where not appropriate, we won’t. If we see a conflict, we won’t let him near it.”
Trump defended his decision to grant Musk oversight of government spending, claiming that his team had uncovered significant financial waste. “They are finding a tremendous amount of waste, really more waste than anything else,” he said. “Probably fraud and abuse can be added to that. But they are uncovering huge amounts of bad spending.”
USAID Shutdown Sparks Criticism
USAID headquarters was abruptly shut down on Monday, with employees instructed to stay home. The agency, which provides humanitarian and security assistance worldwide, was reportedly closed after Musk announced plans to dismantle it, calling its operations “politically partisan.”
“We have to get rid of the whole thing,” Musk said. “I actually checked with [Trump] a few times. I asked, ‘Are you sure?’ Yes, so we’re shutting it down.”
Trump has long been a critic of USAID, previously describing it as being run by “a bunch of radical lunatics.” His administration had already frozen foreign aid on his first day in office, citing his “America First” policy.
