Musk Meets The Media In The Oval Office

Elon Musk, in a rare Oval Office appearance, claimed his government cost-cutting efforts were fully transparent but didn’t back up his accusations of widespread corruption in the federal bureaucracy, according to The NY Times.

Speaking alongside President Trump, who nodded in approval, Musk took the floor for about half an hour, framing his overhaul as a defense of democracy. Standing by the Resolute Desk, he argued that an unchecked bureaucracy undermines the public’s voice, asking, “If the bureaucracy’s in charge, then what meaning does democracy actually have?”

Musk accused officials at the dismantled U.S. Agency for International Development of taking kickbacks and claimed “quite a few” bureaucrats had mysteriously amassed tens of millions in personal wealth while in office. He also alleged that some Social Security recipients were as old as 150. None of these assertions were substantiated with evidence during the session, his first media Q&A since taking charge of the Department of Government Efficiency.

 Musk defended the work of the Department of Government Efficiency Tuesday, saying the US should not be run by a “bureaucracy.”

Here's a compilation of all of Elon Musk's comments on DOGE's action earlier today at the White House:

0:00 Restoring Democracy
1:58 Addressing the deficit
2:55 Suspicious personal wealth
3:46 Basic payment controls
6:18 Social security fraud
7:03 The Retirement Mine
8:48… pic.twitter.com/Ki2cPRczLD

— ELON CLIPS (@ElonClipsX) February 12, 2025

The tech mogul argued he’s carrying out the commander-in-chief’s mandate by moving to fire thousands of government workers and cutting back on federal spending.

“If the people cannot vote and have their will be decided by their elected representatives in the form of the president and the Senate and the House, then we don’t live in a Democracy. We live in a bureaucracy,” Musk said.

The president gave Musk another mandate Tuesday to direct agencies to keep only “essential” employees and eliminate unneeded agencies altogether — giving him even more authority to overhaul the US government.