Elon Musk’s Oval Office address showed why he’s a menacing foe for the federal government and why President Donald Trump is playing with fire by ceding him so much power.
A portrait of George Washington gazed from the wall as his distant presidential successor put on a show with his billionaire friend Tuesday afternoon. Musk, in a black MAGA hat, long dark coat and with his son X sometimes perched on his shoulders, was framed by an ornate window as snow floated down outside.
The pair made their strongest defense yet of Musk’s operation to purge the federal government, which is imperiling basic services and medical research and desecrating the world’s largest foreign aid mission that has saved millions.
Musk’s claims of spending abuses and frivolous programs were likely well received by the millions of Americans who view the Washington swamp with deep suspicion and welcome Trump’s onslaught on the government that he leads.
But the show was about more than a bid to tamp down growing political consternation over Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
It was an unmistakable statement that true power in Washington lies not with the Congress or the courts, but somewhere in the rich mix of egos between the world’s most powerful man and the world’s richest person.
The spectacle was also an obvious demonstration of unity between Trump and Musk, amid constant speculation about the president’s tolerance for a performer who rivals his love for the spotlight.
And no one should miss this: Trump was immovably installed behind the Resolute Desk, as Musk stood to his right – in a rebuke of a Time Magazine cover that showed the Tesla chief in the seat where the buck stops.
Seeking to quell growing concerns among Republicans
Even so, there was just a sense, a couple of times, that Trump was distracted by X’s fidgeting. And the glibness and sense of impunity radiating off Musk – who is neither elected nor confirmed by Congress and may be flouting the Constitution – was striking as he dominated a room that is sacred to American democracy.
There’s rarely been a more vivid demonstration of great wealth bringing great power. Musk was highly respectful of Trump, and they seem to enjoy one another’s company. But with his fortune and pyrotechnical platform on his X network, he’s going to take careful handling by the president.
The joint appearance came as a backlash grows to the blitzkrieg of the bureaucracy being led by Trump and his DOGE boys. The whizz kids sent into federal departments have already shuttered several agencies including USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and are now eyeing bigger prey.
The effort is mired in multiple lawsuits. And some comments by top officials, including Vice President JD Vance, have provoked fears that the White House could trigger a constitutional crisis if it ignores rulings by judges to desist.
Musk made a passionate case that his initiative is validated by massive waste. He implicitly justified his effort to access Treasury payment systems by claiming he’d found decrepit accounting practices and pushed back at criticisms of his vast, unelected power being brought to bear at the heart of the government by claiming he was fighting to save democracy, not to destroy it. (This from a billionaire accused by some of America’s European allies of interfering in their elections and politics).
Trump also had a ready-made line to deliver. When asked if he’d accept rulings by judges who he complained have slowed his shock-and-awe start to his second term, the president said: “I always abide by the courts.” His comment may temporarily cool fears of a constitutional imbroglio. But this is a man who ignored court orders meant to tame his rhetoric during his criminal hush money trial.
Musk is a compelling speaker and clearly relished a chance to perform and persuade.
The head of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency was careful to show deference to the president – noting that he calls to make sure he’s doing what Trump wants. Still, the late afternoon joint media appearance suggested the White House felt it needed to reclaim the narrative on the DOGE story, as some GOP lawmakers get skittish about the impact of government spending cuts and layoffs among their voters, since federal workers aren’t confined to Washington, they are spread throughout the states.
Musk’s explanations might also have been intended to dispel the impression that he’s taking a sledgehammer to federal operations in secret, without meaningful oversight, and that he’s plagued by disastrous conflicts of interest. His willingness to stand and take questions from reporters was his first such act of openness.
“I don’t think there’s been, I don’t know … a case (of) an organization (that) has been more transparent than the DOGE organization,” Musk insisted.
Trump and Musk are doing what many Americans want
Musk’s presentation helps explain why, despite the uproar that it’s caused, Trump’s full-out assault on the federal government is a political winner, at least for now.
Americans voted for change last November. They were angry at a bureaucracy that many felt ignored their needs when Joe Biden’s presidency lapsed into inertia in its final months. Trump’s base wants exactly the kind of shake-up that he has initiated. Government has been unpopular among ideological conservatives for decades and the idea of huge spending cuts – in theory at least – is a popular issue. Federal government bureaucrats also make perfect victims since MAGA supporters see them as elites with lifetime jobs and fat guaranteed pensions who have skewed the political system. In this worldview, Democrats and members of the media who highlight Trump’s and Musk’s power grabs are seen as denizens of the same swamp defending the hated government.
“The people voted for major government reform and that’s what the people are going to get,” Musk said. “That’s what democracy is all about.”
Musk’s success so far is the fruit of his decision to pick the easiest targets – like USAID and CFPB. Foreign aid is rarely popular with voters, especially in an era when an “America First” president runs the White House. And the consumer bureau has been in the sights of Republican lawmakers for years.
But the next targets could be more politically painful for Trump and his base. He’s hinted that the Education Department is high on the list – and he could pull off a feat dreamed of by several GOP presidents with a closure. But any disruption to student loans or important education programs in the states could anger voters beyond those upset about the gutting of USAID.
Trump called on Tuesday for the dismantling of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which he’s been softening up for months with his inflated claims that it failed North Carolinians after a hurricane hit last year. A new system of sending disaster aid directly to states seems like a great money-saving idea that could cut through bureaucracy. But the loss of FEMA’s institutional knowledge and infrastructure could rebound politically against the White House if the response to a future natural disaster fails.
Musk is posing some searching questions for the federal government and will inevitably find waste in such a large organization – even if many of his claims are not backed up by full weight of evidence to allow voters to judge for themselves.
But new cuts to the operating expenses of medical research institutions funded through the National Institutes of Health, which look good on paper, could sabotage a liaison between the federal government and US universities that has made the United States the global powerhouse for clinical breakthroughs. And red states, as well as blue ones, could lose out financially since state universities are vital economic engines and employers. A nuanced weekend statement by Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, in which she called for a “targeted” approach to saving taxpayer money used by NIH, hinted at the dilemma that might soon face GOP lawmakers.
How Musk’s role could end up hurting Trump
The potential for Musk to become a source of scandal rather than its scourge also overshadowed the joint media appearance.
He claimed that since the billions of dollars in contracts his firms enjoy in federal conflicts were public, anyone could see if he was benefiting. That’s hardly reassuring coming from a tech mogul who is now overseeing agencies that oversee his companies.
Trump’s promise that “we wouldn’t let him” take advantage of his position was devalued by his unwillingness to address his own mammoth conflicts and the White House announcement Tuesday that Musk would only file a confidential disclosure form, as an unpaid special government employee.
“Transparency is what builds trust,” Musk said of DOGE’s social media campaign, apparently without noticing the irony of his personal situation.
Thus, an Oval Office show – designed to assuage concerns about the unelected, mercurial, tech visionary currently pulverizing the US government from the inside – only bolstered the caricature.
