President Donald Trump and Elon Musk discussed waste, fraud, abuse, and more in a joint interview with Sean Hannity that aired on Feb. 18.
Musk also sought to make it clear he stands with Trump and vice versa.
“I think President Trump is a good man,” the tech entrepreneur said.
Trump reciprocated, saying he “couldn’t find anyone smarter” than Musk to assist his administration.
Musk Would Have Endorsed Trump Even Without Assassination Attempt
Musk, best known for his work with SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and other tech firms, publicly backed Trump after an attempt on his life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024. But the tech titan’s support was apparently already in the cards.
During the Feb. 18 joint interview, Musk said that he was “going to do it anyway.” The assassination attempt, which claimed the life of Corey Comperatore, simply accelerated Musk’s timeline.
“I sped it up,” Musk said.
The president said he “didn’t know that” about Musk’s endorsement.
Musk went on to stump for the then-candidate. He also donated hundreds of millions to backing Trump.
Musk said his time with Trump deepened his appreciation of the president’s character—a point of contention for Trump’s critics, including some of the Republicans who contested him during the 2024 primary.
“Not once have I seen him do something that was mean or cruel or wrong,” Musk said.
Trump, Musk Say They Are Not at Odds
The two men also talked about the publicity around their joint efforts, accusing the media of trying to fracture their relationship.As DOGE was taking shape after Election Day, some news outlets reported that Musk’s ascendance was elevating him to a quasi-presidential role, a line of argument advanced by some Democrats.
Trump said Musk phoned him to say, “‘You know, they’re trying to drive us apart.’”
“It’s just so obvious. They’re so bad at it. I used to think they were good at it. They’re actually bad at it, because if they were good at it, I’d never be president,” he added.
Musk also affirmed his commitment to advancing, and not usurping, the elected president. He pointed out that his T-shirt read, “Tech Support.”
Musk on DOGE-Related Conflicts of Interest: ‘I’ll Recuse Myself’
The interview also touched on potential conflicts of interest between Musk’s businesses and DOGE.Many of the entrepreneur’s firms have benefited from extensive government support, from subsidies for Tesla’s electric vehicles to Pentagon contracts with SpaceX.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a critic of DOGE and Musk, mentioned those possible conflicts in an interview with The Epoch Times earlier on Feb. 18, saying they “ought to deeply trouble progressives.”
Hannity asked Trump about how his administration would handle potential cuts to such areas. Trump said Musk would be kept away from them.
Musk said he would steer clear of those minefields, too.
Musk, Trump Talk DOGE Workers
The wide-ranging interview repeatedly landed on the topic of DOGE’s employees, which include many engineers.The president said that Musk “attracts a young, very smart type of person—I call them high-IQ individuals.”
“These guys are smart, and they love the country,” Trump added.
Musk said DOGE’s software engineers “could be earning millions of dollars a year instead of earning a small fraction of that as federal employees.”
Trump described the DOGErs as “very committed people.”
One DOGE aide in the Treasury Department resigned after reporting revealed his history of controversial online posts. Vice President JD Vance and Trump supported his rehiring, after which Musk announced he would be reinstated.
Musk, Trump Discuss Bringing Astronauts Home
The trio also discussed a plan to accelerate the rescue of NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.Initially slated for an eight-day mission, the pair have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) since June due to mechanical issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that would have taken them home.
Trump, in January, said he asked SpaceX CEO Musk to expedite their return.
NASA has since moved up a scheduled April return to March. Williams and Wilmore will come back to Earth after the SpaceX Crew-10 mission reaches the ISS.
In the Feb. 18 broadcast, Trump said the two “got left in space,” blaming his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.
Musk said the astronauts’ return “was postponed kind of to a ridiculous degree.”
On DOGE, $1 Trillion Floated
The pair also talked about just how much waste, fraud, and abuse they expect DOGE to identify.The president said DOGE was pinpointing “billions—and it will be hundreds of billions—of dollars worth of fraud.”
He predicted Musk would identify $1 trillion in what Hannity called “waste, fraud, abuse, corruption,” adding that he believes that to be “a very small percentage” of that sort of suspect spending.
Musk did not dispute the trillion-dollar figure.
The technologist said that saving money for the American taxpayer “comes down to two things: competence and caring.”
“It stands to reason that if you don’t have competence and you don’t have caring, you’re going to get a terrible deal,” he said.
Trump said that government contracts are not whittled down by the kind of give-and-take common to private-sector negotiations.
“Everybody expects to be cut,” he said.
