Trump says Elon Musk ‘can’t do, won’t do’ anything without nod amid access row

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that tech giant Elon Musk, tasked with slashing the US government’s spending, reports to him and “he can’t do and won’t do” anything without approval. This remark follows growing concerns over the access granted to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) within the government’s payment system after the billionaire announced he would put an end to the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Speaking with reporters at the White House, Trump also said that the Tesla CEO will not be given access to the areas where there is conflict.

“Elon has got access only to letting people go that he thinks are no good if we agree with him, and it’s only if we agree with him; Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval. And we’ll give him the approval where appropriate, and where not appropriate, we won’t; where we think there’s a conflict, we won’t let him go near it,” Trump said.

“They are finding a tremendous amount of waste, really more waste than anything else I think you could say. Probably fraud and abuse can be added to that. But they are finding tremendous amounts of really bad things, bad spending,” Trump added.

On Monday, the headquarters of USAID was shut down, and staff were told to stay home. The agency, which provides humanitarian and security assistance worldwide, was closed after the SpaceX chief said that he planned to dismantle it.

“We have to get rid of the whole thing,” he said, calling its work “politically partisan.”

Musk said that Trump supported the move.

“I actually checked with him a few times. Said, ‘Are you sure?’ Yes, so we’re shutting it down,” he said.

Trump had previously criticised the agency, saying it was run by “a bunch of radical lunatics.”

The decision has drawn opposition from Democratic senators, who wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying any change to USAID “must be previewed, discussed, and approved by Congress.” Trump had already frozen foreign aid on his first day in office, saying his administration would review spending in line with his “America First” policy.

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