Trump Defends Musk’s ‘Geniuses’ by Naming Random Federal Expenses
The president said Elon Musk and his “12 geniuses” could uncover $1 trillion in “fraud.” So far, there’s little context for the claims.
Andrew Harnick/Getty Images
Donald Trump claimed Elon Musk’s DOGE “geniuses” have uncovered “billions and billions” of dollars in fraudulent government payments.
He singled out one payment of $9 million that he claimed was given “for somebody to stand in a store and see how they shop,” adding that it was “a disgrace.”
He also claimed that $59 million was handed out to a “little small group” in New York City for a hotel — “not a luxury hotel” — for migrants.
Trump gave the examples at an impromptu press conference in the Oval Office as he blasted widespread fraud in government and defended Musk’s role in spearheading a DOGE team slashing budgets and hunting out alleged corruption.
He said they could ultimately uncover $1 trillion in waste or corrupt payments.
The president said he will call a press conference on Thursday in which he will list 200 examples of wasteful federal spending. “I saw three I thought were reasonable,” he added.
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He accused the media of wrongly denigrating Musk and his “12 geniuses” from DOGE. He added that the number of Musk’s team grew to 25 and now 100.
“I think the lowest IQ is 160. You have a couple of 182s in there,” he added, saying Musk is worried that “nobody cares.”
Trump said it involves “tremendous fraud” involving hundreds of millions and perhaps even billions of dollars. “There’s no chance that there’s not kickbacks or something going on,” he said.
Standing at his desk and fielding questions, Trump said his DOGE guys found cases in which people were awarded limited-time government contracts. “You have a three month contract. And maybe the guy who got the contract leaves. And the people signing the checks don’t know it’s three months. So they keep signing checks. The guy on the other side of the contract keep getting check after check.”
He launched a broadside at Boeing aircraft makers for past government deals and singled out the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford, saying it was built for billions over budget with gadgets that weren’t necessary. “There are billions and billions of cost overruns,” he added.
He also demanded to know why Europe had given $100 billion to Ukraine in secured loans while, he alleges, the Biden administration gave the war-torn European nation $300 billion with no strings for its battle with Russia.
He also said he would like to see the Department of Education shuttered immediately.
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