Trump claims Musk has no conflicts of interest as DOGE guts agencies

US President Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk have given their first joint TV interview, which aired on right-wing outlet Fox News.

During the interview, conducted by prime-time host Sean Hannity, Trump stressed he intends to curb inflation and claimed that Musk’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, could uncover over $1 trillion (€958.8bn) in what the administration deems “wasteful” government spending.

Specifics, however, were few. In response to Hannity’s question about the percentage of waste identified so far, Musk said, “Well, we’re just getting started”.

Trump interrupted, saying, “1%. No, because it’s so massive. It’s huge money,” before adding that he believes Musk will find $1 trillion in wasteful spending — in reality, a small fraction of total federal spending.

When asked whether Musk had requested any favours or special treatment for his company Tesla, such as tax breaks for electric vehicles, both denied this.

“I haven’t asked the president for anything ever,” Musk stated, to which Trump replied, “It’s true.”

On the topic of potential conflicts of interest between Musk’s governmental work and his business interests, Hannity asked: “And if it comes up, how will you handle it?”

Trump answered: “He won’t be involved.” Musk agreed, saying, “I’ll recuse myself if it is.” Trump added, “I mean, I wouldn’t want that, and he won’t want it, right?”

Musk also joked about the intense scrutiny he supposedly faces, comparing it to a “daily proctology exam”.

Musk has faced furious criticism from Democrats in Congress and others regarding DOGE’s methods of reducing spending.

It has targeted diversity programmes, made swingeing cuts to foreign aid and other department budgets, and ordered the elimination of thousands of government jobs — some apparently chosen on the basis of keyword searches.

DOGE, which despite its name is not a formal government department, has also been condemned for curtailing agencies and offices directly involved in regulating and investigating Musk’s companies.

Among them is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which would be responsible for scrutinising Musk’s efforts to transform X into a mass payments service.

DOGE also has the opportunity to undermine the Department of Transportation, which has at least six pending investigations into Tesla.