Trump praises Musk, dismisses chatter; budget cuts scrutinized
During a press conference in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump officially thanked Elon Musk for his cooperation. Musk concluded his work for the White House on Friday, with Trump calling the billionaire one of the greatest business leaders in the world.
The President stated that many employees of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Musk, will continue to work for his administration. The head of Tesla and SpaceX himself, who "did a fantastic job," will continue "to drop by Washington."
Musk assured that he will continue to be "an advisor and friend" to Trump. As the New York Times comments, both the president and the former head of DOGE are trying to dispel rumors of misunderstandings between them.
This is not the end
The billionaire stated that his departure from DOGE does not mean the end of the team's work, and he is convinced that over time, this department will lead, as he promised, to saving $1 trillion from the U.S. budget.
When a journalist noted that opinions on Musk's work for the U.S. administration are mixed, with only conservatives speaking favorably about him, Trump responded by saying that "Elon saved many human lives" by providing Ukraine with the Starlink satellite internet network. He added that Musk had many successes, his "life was great," and the return of the SpaceX rocket to the docking station was so spectacular that it looked like a film effect.
Important matters in the Oval Office
The New York Times emphasizes that although the press conference in the Oval Office was officially supposed to be dedicated to Musk's farewell, it quickly turned into a session of journalists' questions and the president's declarations on other topics, from wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, to budget bill proposals, the White House's conflict with Harvard, and trade tensions with China.
Trump repeatedly returned to the topic of fighting immigration and said that countries around the world are emptying psychiatric hospitals, wanting to send their patients to the U.S., and most immigrants are "cold, hardened criminals" whom their governments want to get rid of to save money.
Musk commented on this by stating that "the fundamental flaw of the West is empathy for criminals." He also said that courts trying to stop the president are acting "unconstitutionally."
Supposed to be $2 trillion, ended at $16 billion
Earlier on Friday, Axios reminded readers that during the election campaign, Musk promised that DOGE would help to cut expenditures by $2 trillion, nearly a third of the entire annual budget. Now the billionaire declares that he has saved $175 billion, but according to independent analyses, this amount is around $16 billion.
On Tuesday, Musk thanked Trump for the "opportunity to reduce unnecessary government spending."
