Elon Musk joined Donald Trump in the Oval Office as the US president signed an executive order allowing the tech billionaire to make large-scale reductions in the federal workforce. As head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory group, Mr Musk says he wants to add “common sense controls” to government and ensure taxpayer money is spent wisely. (Photo: Elon and Trump at Oval Office).

The executive order requires government agencies to work with DOGE, in some cases so they can be “eliminated or combined because their functions aren’t required by law”. In addition, the agencies have been told to “hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart from federal service”, with exceptions for immigration, law enforcement and public safety.

While carrying his son X Æ A-12 on his shoulders in the Oval Office, Mr Musk was asked by reporters to respond to accusations he is orchestrating a “hostile takeover” of government in a non-transparent way. The Tesla CEO and owner of X said “the public voted for major government reform… and they’re going to get what they voted for. And that’s what democracy is all about”.

“We have this unelected, fourth unconstitutional branch of government, which is the bureaucracy, which has in a lot of ways, currently more power than any elected representative,” he added. Mr Musk also spoke about what he described as a lack of Treasury controls. “Your tax dollars need to be spent wisely on things that matter to the people… it’s just common sense. It’s not draconian or radical”. (Photo: Trump and Elon Musk’s son).

When challenged about what checks and balances are in place to ensure accountability for Mr Musk, who is unelected, he replied: “We are trying to be as transparent as possible… I don’t know of a case where an organisation has been more transparent”. Another reporter raised the possibility of conflicts of interest, pointing out Mr Musk has received billions of dollars in federal contracts.

“All of our actions are fully public,” he says, adding that he fully expects to be “scrutinised nonstop” – comparing it to “a daily proctologist exam” – but also admitting “we will make mistakes, but we’ll also fix the mistakes very quickly”. “Some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected,” he said. “So nobody can bat 1,000.” X Æ A-12, aged four, stood next to Mr Trump while his father spoke, at times holding on to the Resolute Desk.

While photographers took pictures, Mr Trump said: “X are you ok? This is X and he is a great guy, high IQ. A high IQ individual.” Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Musk posted an attack aimed at judges who have issued rulings that paused Mr Trump’s executive actions. “Democracy in America is being destroyed by judicial coup,” Mr Musk wrote on X. The president voiced a similar complaint in the Oval Office alongside Mr Musk.

“We want to weed out the corruption. And it seems hard to believe that a judge could say, we don’t want you to do that,” he said. “So maybe we have to look at the judges, because that’s very serious. I think it’s a very serious violation.” Mr Trump also held discussions with Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House. The president repeated his pledge to “take Gaza” and move its residents to Jordan and Egypt, something the king has rejected.

Courtesy: Sky News