Elon Musk and son join Donald Trump in White House as president pushes to slash US government workforce
11 February 2025, 22:03
Elon Musk joined Donald Trump in the White House as the president gave an executive order for US government agencies to comply with the billionaire's plans to slash their workforces.
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Musk, the world's richest man, was joined by his young son X Æ A-12 in the Oval Office on Tuesday evening UK time as Trump gave more power to his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The executive order means that the heads of US federal bureaucracies have to comply with DOGE as the new agency pushes to cut spending and reduce employee numbers.
Departments will only be able to hire for essential positions.
Musk was asked by reporters to respond to concerns that he is conducting a "hostile takeover" of the US government.
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He said in response that voters had demanded reform of the government by electing Trump in November.
Musk added: "That's what democracy is all about".
The billionaire Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX owner, who also is a major recipient of government contracts, said he expects to be scrutinised for potential conflicts of interest.
He said: "We are trying to be as transparent as possible.
"I don't know of a case where an organisation has been more transparent."
"All of our actions are fully public," Musk added.
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He said that he wanted to introduce "common sense controls" to government spending.
Last week Musk and Trump began gutting USAID, the US Agency for International Development, which in 2024 received $40 billion (£32.1 billion) of US government funding.
The billionaire said: "It became apparent that its not an apple with a worm it in.
"What we have is just a ball of worms. You've got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It's beyond repair.
"We're shutting it down."