President Donald Trump states he trusts Elon Musk and his DOGE effort that has actually challenged profession workers throughout the federal government and relatively required its method into delicate systems at the Treasury and other firms.
The president took a seat today for a prolonged interview with Fox’s Bret Baier, set to air ahead of the Super Bowl. In an excerpt launched by the network ahead of broadcast, Trump is inquired about his faith in Musk– whose DOGE group does not have any sort of congressional permission or approval– and asserted that his latest billionaire buddy was not in a position to get anything of worth from his Cabinet-adjacent position.
” Bottom line, you state you trust him?” asked Baier.
” He’s not acquiring anything from this,” Trump addressed. “In reality, I question how he can commit the time to it. He’s so into it.”
The president likewise preserved his position that much of the puffed up federal spending plan associated to “kickbacks” and the sort of waste and scams that hardline conservatives have actually long preserved is widespread within federal programs suggested to help Americans– whatever from trainee loans to foreign help.
” I worked on this,” stated the president. “And individuals desire me to discover it.”
A clip from my interview with President @realDonaldTrump. The interview airs (in part) today at 3pmET on FOX ahead of the Super Bowl and you can capture the remainder of the interview tomorrow on #SpecialReport! #fox #superbowl #foxnews #football #politics #trump #donaldtrump #president … pic.twitter.com/DHZuXa1UnQ
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) February 9, 2025 In the exact same interview, Trump was asked by Baier about his stated desire for Canada to “end up being the 51st state.” The president restated that this was a seriously-held political position, and declared that the United States “lost” billions of dollars to Canada in trade every year.
The DOGE group’s impact on the federal government up until now has actually tossed Democrats into a panic. Members of the celebration’s congressional delegation tried without success to go into the Department of Education’s structure in Washington a number of times over the previous week, each time being turned away by guards who declined entry into the locked head office (which typically enables visitors into the lobby to speak with authorities stationed at the front desk).
In his interview airing Sunday, Trump stated that DOGE would discover those “kickbacks” and other waste at the Department of Education, while swearing that they would be sent out to slash costs at the Pentagon also.
” He’s going to discover the exact same thing[at Education] Then I’m going to go to the military, let’s examine the armed force. We’re going to discover billions, numerous billions of dollars of scams and abuse.”
Operating under a self-imposed shroud of secrecy, Musk’s group has actually been taken part in unexpected and extreme modifications throughout the federal government. DOGE staffers relocated to carry out Trump’s vision of totally shuttering the United States Company for International Advancement, the primary federal government company supervising the U.S.’s foreign help programs, while appearing poised to try comparable teardowns at other federal government firms consisting of the Customer Financial Security Bureau.
However the efforts do not have any basis in legislation authorized by Congress and as such are being performed under unsure legal authority. Suits have actually been submitted by Democratic chief law officers around the nation focused on stopping or reversing the shuttering of entire firms and, in basic, suppressing the gain access to and impact DOGE staffers have at federal firms.
Among those claims bore some success on Saturday as a federal judge bought DOGE staffers to stop accessing delicate systems at the Treasury accountable for paying out payments throughout the federal government.
Those staffers were likewise bought to erase any information obtained from their use of the Treasury’s systems.
The response on the right was quick and unsurprising. Musk tore into the judge as “corrupt” in a series of tweets while Vice President J.D. Vance relatively recommended in his own post on Sunday that the Trump administration is thinking about overlooking court orders released by federal judges when Trump and his group disagree with the judgments.
“If a judge attempted to inform a basic how to carry out a military operation, that would be unlawful. If a judge attempted to command the attorney general of the United States in how to utilize her discretion as a district attorney, that’s likewise unlawful. Judges aren’t permitted to manage the executive’s genuine power,” composed the vice president.
At the exact same time, Democrats in Congress report disappointment from their constituents who see the celebration as listless and doing not have instructions after vice president Kamala Harris’s harsh swing-state sweep at the hands of Trump in November. Even with resistance coalescing in the Legal Branch this previous week, little has actually been arranged straight by Democratic management.
Home Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries participated in a charity event in Silicon Valley this previous week where a few of that disappointment bubbled to the surface area. Politico reported that the donors present, mainly tech CEOs and others in the market, were not impressed with Jeffries as he railed versus Trump however provided little vision for the Democratic Celebration’s policy platform moving forward.