Trump and Musk Lavish Praise on Each Other in Hour-Long Interview

Author: Wu Yu, Jin Shi Data

On Tuesday evening Eastern Time, Fox News aired an exclusive interview with President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, where both are actively working to cut federal government spending. Host Sean Hannity praised both men, who also exchanged compliments.

As the interview approached, Musk's role and influence in the Trump administration were under increasing scrutiny. Here are the key moments from the hour-long conversation.

"Like Interviewing Two Brothers"

Trump and Musk sat side by side, with Trump praising Musk's intelligence and business acumen. He claimed the media was trying to "drive a wedge between us" and insisted their relationship is very harmonious.

Trump called the world's richest man "actually a very outstanding businessman," stating that Musk and his "100 geniuses" ensured the execution of a series of his executive orders, though Trump did not say Musk was the brains behind those orders. "He gets things done," Trump said.

Musk described his role in executing Trump's executive orders as "technical support."

He praised Trump highly. "I love the president. I want to make that clear," Musk said. "I think President Trump is a good person."

"The president has been subjected to such unfair attacks in the media—it's really outrageous," he continued. "At this point, I've spent a lot of time with the president, and I've never seen him do anything despicable, cruel, or wrong. Not once."

The two mocked some critics' claims that Musk usurped Trump's authority as president. Hannity remarked, "I feel like I'm interviewing two brothers."

During the 2024 election cycle, Musk has spent at least $288 million to help Trump and other Republican candidates get elected.

Musk stated that he would have supported Trump in the 2024 election regardless, but the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July accelerated that process. He publicly supported Trump after the incident and shared a video on his social media platform X of Trump raising a bloodied fist at a rally.

The Efficiency Department's Cost-Cutting Plan

Trump stated that Musk's led Efficiency Department of the U.S. Government (DOGE) would cut "hundreds of billions" from the federal budget in "fraud" and other forms of waste—a figure far higher than most experts consider reasonable.

Jessica Riedel, a senior fellow at the right-wing Manhattan Institute, noted that Musk claimed on X to have identified over $50 billion in alleged waste and fraud, but further investigation showed the actual figure was closer to $4 billion.

Budget experts are highly skeptical of the existence of "hundreds of billions" in waste and fraud each year.

The Washington Post reported last week that the social media-posted social security database from DOGE indicated only $6 billion in waste annually. Of that, $4 billion came from a proposed cap on indirect costs paid by the National Institutes of Health to universities, medical centers, and other grant recipients, which has been halted by a judge.

Musk to Avoid Conflicts of Interest

Trump told Hannity that if Musk's advisory role to the federal government conflicted with any of his business activities, "he will not be involved."

"I have never asked the president for anything," Musk said, adding that if there is any conflict of interest, he will avoid it.

On Tuesday, when asked about the role of the Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder, Trump made similar comments to reporters. Musk compared his current situation to "being examined rectally every day."

As reported by The Washington Post, Musk is actively working in the White House without giving up his business role, a highly unusual arrangement that raises many questions.

Commitment Not to Cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid

During the interview, Trump promised that as Republicans seek to cut federal spending and enact a tax bill of about $5 trillion, he would not touch Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits. He reiterated this campaign promise, which would make it more difficult for congressional Republicans to push for an extension of the 2017 tax cuts.

These three social security programs account for the largest portion of federal spending each year. Without cutting benefits from these programs, it is nearly impossible for Republicans to achieve their dual goals of significant tax cuts and spending reductions.

Trump told Hannity, "Social Security will not be touched—except in cases of fraud—on the contrary, it will be strengthened, not cut. Medicare, Medicaid… none of these will be affected."

Reiterating Corruption at USAID

In the interview, Hannity displayed a chart on the screen, claiming to show "suspicious spending" by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—including some debunked spending claims.

"All of this goes overseas. The money is not spent here in America, not used to improve schools, maintain law and order," Hannity commented.

The Washington Post investigated several of the so-called USAID expenditures mentioned in a recent press release from the Trump administration. Fox News's chart referenced foreign aid allegedly used to fund "diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) musicals" in Ireland, "transgender operas" in Colombia, and "transgender comic books" in Peru—all of which were inaccurate claims.

The chart also mentioned funding for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in Serbian workplaces. This claim is largely accurate.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。