Elon Musk made a rare appearance at the White House on Tuesday, where he denied a government takeover following the extensive cuts he’s been pushing across the federal government.
Musk stood next to the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with his four-year-old son X AE A-XII as U.S. President Donald Trump sat behind the desk, praising Musk’s work with his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), saying they’ve found “shocking” evidence of wasteful spending.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, accompanied by U.S. President Donald Trump (R), his son X Musk, and White House staff secretary Will Scharf (L), speaks during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Trump signed an order giving Musk’s DOGE more authority to continue downsizing the federal workforce, instructing the heads of government agencies to comply with DOGE.
The Tesla CEO described himself as an open book as he took questions from reporters in the Oval Office for the first time since joining the Trump administration as a special government employee.
When speaking about job cuts, he told reporters it’s “not optional” to reduce federal expenses, “it’s essential,” otherwise the country will face bankruptcy due to the interest payments on the national debt exceeding the defence department’s budget.
He also described federal workers as an “unelected, fourth unconstitutional branch of government” that has “more power than any elected representative.”
When a reporter told Musk his “detractors say you’re orchestrating a hostile takeover of government and doing it in a non-transparent way,” Musk gasped and jokingly replied, “I have detractors?”
“The people voted for major government reform. There should be no doubt about that. That was on the campaign, the president spoke about that at every rally,” Musk continued. “The people voted for major government reform and that’s what the people are going to get. That’s what democracy is all about.”
DOGE has been criticized for a lack of transparency, but Musk claimed that DOGE’s work was being shared on its website and on X, the social media platform he owns. However, the DOGE website is scant on in-depth information — it has a section titled “Featured Memes,” for example — and the postings on X often lack many details, including which programs are being cut and where the organization has access.
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Musk was asked about being excused from any conflicts of interest he may have. “Does that mean you are in fact policing yourself? What are the checks and balances in place to ensure there is accountability and transparency?” a reporter asked Musk.
“We are actually trying to be as transparent as possible,” Musk responded, referring to what DOGE has posted on X. “So all of our actions are maximally transparent. In fact, I don’t know of a case where an organization has been more transparent than the DOGE organization.”
The White House has also been moving to limit independent oversight. The inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development was fired a day after warning that it had become nearly impossible to monitor US$8.2 billion in humanitarian funds after DOGE began dismantling the agency.
Musk defended DOGE’s work as “simple,” “basic,” “common sense” and “not draconian or radical.”
“I fully expect to be scrutinized and get a daily proctology exam, basically. Might as well just camp out there,” he added. “It’s not like I think I can get away with something. I’ll be scrutinized non-stop. But with support of the president we can cut the budget deficit in half from two trillion to one.”
When asked about false statements that the U.S. was spending $50 million on condoms for Gaza and other claims he’s made about government programs, Musk acknowledged that he has been wrong.
“Some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected. So nobody can bat 1,000,” he said. He promised that he would act quickly to correct errors, and acknowledged that DOGE could be making errors as well.
“I’m not sure we should be sending $50 million in condoms anywhere, frankly, I’m not sure that’s something Americans would be really excited about,” Musk said. “But you know, if it went to Mozambique instead of Gaza I’m like, that’s not as bad, but why are we doing that?
“We are moving fast, so we will make mistakes, but we’ll also fix the mistakes very quickly.”
The executive order signed by Trump said a DOGE representative will need to approve almost all new hiring, a dramatic consolidation of personnel management across the federal government.
“The agency shall not fill any vacancies for career appointments that the DOGE Team Lead assesses should not be filled, unless the Agency Head determines the positions should be filled,” the order said.
In addition, the Office of Management and Budget will require that agencies “hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart.” There would be exceptions when it comes to immigration, law enforcement and public safety.
Following Musk’s surprise appearance, Grimes, the billionaire’s ex-girlfriend with whom he shares three children, claims she had no clue her son was going to be part of the televised press conference that took place at the White House.
X AE A-XII was seen sitting in the Oval Office beside Musk and occasionally moving around while his father fielded questions from reporters. Viewers took to X to note how “polite” the young child was during the half-hour appearance.
X Musk, the son of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, stands next to U.S. President Donald Trump during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
“Lil X was very polite today! You raised him well. He was so cute when he told DJT ‘please forgive me, I need to pee,’” one X user wrote to Grimes about her son’s appearance.
Grimes responded to the post, writing, “He should not be in public like this. I did not see this, thank u for alerting me. But I’m glad he was polite. Sigh.”
Elon Musk carries his son X Æ A-Xii on his shoulders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11, 2025.
JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Grimes, whose legal name is Claire Boucher, also spoke out last month following Musk’s straight-arm, Nazi-like gesture during his speech at Trump’s inauguration.
“I am not him. I will not make a statement every time he does something. I can only send love back into a world that is hurting,” she wrote.
“I’m happy to denounce Nazi-ism – and the far alt right. Would that help clear things up?” she added.
— With files from The Associated Press