Donald Trump explained he was 'searching for somebody smarter' to collaborate with him during his time in the White House before he 'settled' on the world's richest man, Elon Musk.
The POTUS made his admission during an interview with Fox News this week, when he was joined by Musk after it was revealed he had chosen the SpaceX CEO to work on the 'department of government efficiency' - otherwise known as DOGE.
Trump announced at the time that Musk would work from outside the government to offer 'advice and guidance', and 'pave the way for [his] administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies'.
Now, Trump has opened up about how Musk came to land the role - and admitted he was looking for other candidates first.
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During their interview with Fox, host Sean Hannity pointed out that Trump 'might not like' the fact that Musk is richer than him.
Trump quipped back by saying that was 'why [he] became president', before going on to talk about how he came to hire Musk.
He said: "He's great, you know I wanted to find somebody smarter than him. I searched all over, I just couldn't do it. I couldn't find anyone smarter so we had - for the country. So we settled on this guy."
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Accepting Trump's backhanded compliment, Musk responded: "Well thanks for having me. I'm just trying to be useful here."
Trump's admission comes as a court filing from the White House stated this week that Musk 'has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself'.
In the declaration, filed by Joshua Fisher, the director of the White House’s Office of Administration, Musk's title was listed as 'senior adviser to the president', Politico reports.
Earlier in the interview, Trump explained he wanted somebody 'really smart' to work with 'in terms of the country'.
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"He doesn't talk about it - he's actually a very good businessman," Trump said of Musk, before suggesting that Musk helps ensure Trump's executive orders get carried out.
Trump explained: "This is probably true for all presidents, you write an executive order and you think it's done. You send it out, it doesn't get done, it doesn't get implemented [...] what he does and he takes it, and with his 100 geniuses [...] he gets it done."
After Hannity questioned whether Musk was essentially Trump's 'tech support', Trump then responded: "He's much more than that."
Topics: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Politics, Business, Technology
Elon Musk has addressed concerns he's 'orchestrating a hostile takeover of government' in a 'non-transparent' way and how he'll 'police' himself.
Before being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump announced he would be appointing Elon Musk as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with Musk responding saying he would send 'shockwaves' through the system.
Trump announced Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would be heading up the department in November 2024.
He said: "Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies - Essential to the 'Save America' Movement.
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"I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans."
Musk responded: "This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!"
After Trump was sworn in, it took little time for Musk's new role to be officially clarified by the White House, with the Tesla CEO being granted access to sensitive government financial databases - which were later blocked by a federal judge.
And during a visit to the White House yesterday (February 11) for an executive signing in the Oval Office accompanied by his son X Æ A-Xii - X, for short - Musk addressed the question whether he's 'orchestrating a hostile takeover of government and doing it in a non-transparent way'.
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Musk responded: "First of all, you couldn't ask for a stronger mandate from the public. [...] A majority of the public voting for President Trump, one house.
He continued: "The people voted for major government reform - there should be no doubt about that, that was on the government campaign, the president spoke about that at every rally, the people voted for major government reform and that's what the people are going to get, they're going to get what they voted for.
"And a lot of times, people don't get what they voted for, but in this presidency, they are going to get what they voted for and that's what democracy's all about."
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Elsewhere in the press conference, Musk argued they're 'trying to be as transparent as possible' and 'post [their] actions to the DOGE handle, on X and to the DOGE website'.
He said: "So all of our actions are maximally transparent."
When asked about if a 'conflict of interest' comes up and whether Musk 'polices himself,' he resolved: "All of our actions are fully public so if you see anything which seems like there's a conflict there, I don't think people are going to be shy about saying that.
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"[...] Transparency builds trust. [...] So then you can see if I'm doing something that benefits one of my companies or not."
Topics: Elon Musk, Politics, US News, Donald Trump, Business, Technology
Elon Musk's Twitter has agreed to pay $10 million to settle Donald Trump's 'censorship' lawsuit that was brought about after the January 6 Capitol riots.
Following the riots that unfolded in January 2021 in Washington DC, social media companies such as Meta and Twitter suspended the then-outgoing president from their platforms.
“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said on the suspension.
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As per the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, Trump decided to sue Twitter and Jack Dorsey, who was then CEO of the social media giant, in July 2021.
The 78-year-old argued his comments were unfairly censored, though the ban remained until Twitter changed ownership.
Twitter is of course now owned by Musk, a good friend of the president and also a part of his government.
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The Tesla founder co-runs the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and Musk has even visited the White House recently.
So, in somewhat expected news, Trump's lawsuit involving Twitter has come to an end after the social media company agreed to pay the sum of $10 million to settle the lawsuit.
Back in May 2022, Judge James Donato dismissed the lawsuit, stating Twitter hadn't infringed Trump’s First Amendment rights to free speech.
UNILAD has reached out to Musk's representatives for comment.
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Following the verdict, the president had appealed to the US Court of Appeals, and the case was pending until Musk agreed to pay up.
Musk joined Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday (February 11), where an awkward interaction with a reporter occurred.
Musk was asked by a reporter to publicly correct a statement he made about sending $50 million worth of condoms to Gaza in the Middle East, when it was actually Gaza in Mozambique.
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"How can we make sure that all the statements that you said were correct, so we can trust what you say?" the journalist subsequently asked.
The Tesla founder, who also forefronts the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), replied: "Some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected.
"I mean, you know, we will make mistakes, but we'll act quickly to correct any mistakes."
Musk also said: "I'm not sure we should be sending $50 million worth of condoms to anywhere, frankly. I'm not sure that's something Americans would be really excited about."
Topics: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Twitter, Social Media
Many people on the internet are pointing out Donald Trump's 'uncomfortable' reaction to Elon Musk's $50,000,000 condom 'mistake' after the SpaceX founder was questioned by a reporter.
Yep, not a sentence anybody would expect to read on a Wednesday afternoon.
President Trump has been in the White House for just over three weeks, and to say it's been busy for him is certainly an understatement.
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To be honest, the 47th POTUS' tenure so far could be summed up with two simple words... executive orders, and an awful lot of them too.
On top of that, you've got Elon Musk in his government, which certainly provides some, well, interesting moments.
The Twitter owner joined Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday (February 11), with Musk's four-year-old son busy picking his nose.
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Musk was asked by a reporter to publicly correct a statement he made about sending $50 million worth of condoms to Gaza in the Middle East, when it was actually Gaza in Mozambique.
"How can we make sure that all the statements that you said were correct, so we can trust what you say?" the journalist subsequently asked.
The Tesla founder, who also forefronts the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), replied: "Some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected.
"I mean, you know, we will make mistakes, but we'll act quickly to correct any mistakes."
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Musk also said: "I'm not sure we should be sending $50 million worth of condoms to anywhere, frankly. I'm not sure that's something Americans would be really excited about."
The reaction of Trump during this questioning is certainly interesting, as he was seen raising his eyebrows, shaking his head and smirking at one point.
Reviewing the moment, Twitter user @CyberPunkRoad wrote: "In this video, just look at Trump's body language and movements—it's clear that he's uncomfortable with Elon Musk. On one hand, he handed America over to Israel, and on the other, to a lunatic like Elon. He had no choice.
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"When the reporter was asking Elon to correct the record about condoms for Gaza, which were instead for $50 million of condoms to Mozambique. I zoomed in on Trump‘s face. And he cracks me up more than you’ll ever know," another person on the social media platform commented.
Meanwhile, a third person penned: "Trump's reaction to that question is priceless," while another remarked: "Trump was looking angry there."
Topics: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Politics, Viral
Donald Trump has announced plans to stop minting 'wasteful' pennies as he continues his plan to slash spending in the US.
Today marks exactly three weeks since President Trump returned to the Oval Office for a second term, and he's introduced a number of changes in that short space of time.
The Republican president has signed off on many orders - which have included halting the ban of TikTok, and declaring that there are 'only two genders' among others.
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Meanwhile, he's also renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and set up the very first US wealth fund.
Now, Trump has announced plans for the US Treasury to stop producing pennies, forming part of his plan to cut spend.
The POTUS claimed minting pennies is 'wasteful' and that they cost more than their value to make.
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Taking to Truth Social, the 47th POTUS said: "For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents.
"This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let's rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it's a penny at a time."
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the governmental department headed up by Elon Musk, has previously stated minting pennies is costing American taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
DOGE is a temporary organization set up by Trump that aims to 'dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies'.
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The president shared the news of its creation in November last year and named Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as the two people that would lead it.
It's since been reported that the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, agreed to allow a team who works under DOGE to oversee the Treasury's payment system, which is charge of distributing things like Americans’ tax returns, Social Security benefits, disability payments and federal employees’ salaries.
It's believed these team members in question have been able to access the critical payment system since Trump's inauguration on January 20, but a federal judge recently halted this.
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US District Judge Paul Engelmayer issued the order in question, which also tells DOGE members to destroy any downloaded information from the payment system, CNN reports.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for February 14.
Topics: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, US News, Politics, Money
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