Donald Trump said that he expects Elon Musk to find “billions” of dollars of abuse and fraud in the Pentagon during an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier that aired before the Super Bowl on Sunday.
“I’m going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education. … Then I’m going to go, go to the military. Let’s check the military,” the US president told the host from the rightwing Fox News, adding: “We’re going to find billions, hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud and abuse.”
In the last few weeks, Musk’s “department of government efficiency” has been trying to dismantle numerous federal agencies in Washington DC, going through data systems, shutting down DEI programs, and in some cases, attempting to eliminate entire agencies.
Last week, Musk and Trump attempted to put thousands of workers of the US Agency for International Development (USAid) on leave, but a judge on Friday temporarily blocked the effort.
Without providing any evidence, Trump said in the Baier interview: “You take a look at the USAid, the kind of fraud in there … We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars of money that’s going to places where it shouldn’t be going … It’s crazy. It’s a big scam.”
Trump went on to reiterate his wish for Canada to be the 51st state.
“I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state because we lose $200bn a year with Canada and I’m not going to let that happen,” he added. “It’s too much. Why are we paying $200bn a year, essentially in subsidy to Canada? Now, if they’re a 51st state, I don’t mind doing it.”
Trump is the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl, which has served as the finale of the NFL season since 1966, although it is not unusual for a president to be part of Super Bowl programming.
Presidents have traditionally given interviews to the network hosting the Super Bowl, although both Trump and Joe Biden declined some requests during their first terms.
Biden skipped the Super Bowl interview in 2024, in a move that some Democratic insiders saw as a missed opportunity to speak directly to Americans. Biden’s aides said he eschewed the interview because he felt voters wanted a break from political news.
This year’s interview is somewhat unusual. Fox is hosting the Super Bowl, and has assigned Baier to host the interview. Baier is seen as less rabidly pro-Trump than some of his colleagues, but the move suggested from the beginning that the interview might not be as adversarial as one conducted by a less-partisan network.
Trump, a lifelong New Yorker who moved to his members-only club in Florida after alienating much of his home state, has not indicated which team he will support.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
