US president Donald Trump painted Elon Musk as his enforcer-in-chief Tuesday, hailing the tech billionaire鈥檚 zeal in implementing the blizzard of executive orders the president has issued since returning to office.
In a joint interview broadcast on Fox News, the two men spent substantial time singing the other鈥檚 praises and dismissing concerns that Trump is overstepping his executive powers.
Trump has signed scores of executive directives in the past three weeks, many of which have been challenged in the courts as potentially unconstitutional.
Billionaire Musk, who was Trump鈥檚 top donor during his 2024 presidential campaign, was tasked with leading the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency, with the declared goal of rooting out 鈥榳aste, fraud and abuse鈥� in federal spending.
鈥極ne of the biggest functions of the DOGE team is just making sure that the presidential executive orders are actually carried out,鈥� Musk told Fox News.
In the interview, Trump insisted his policies 鈥� including a wholesale onslaught on federal institutions 鈥� should be implemented without delay and said Musk was instrumental in pushing them forward.
鈥榊ou write an executive order and you think it鈥檚 done, you send it out, it doesn鈥檛 get done. It doesn鈥檛 get implemented,鈥� Trump said.
He added that Musk and the DOGE team have now become an enforcement mechanism within the federal bureaucracy to enact his administration鈥檚 agenda without anyone standing in their way 鈥� or else risk losing their jobs.
鈥楢nd some guy that maybe didn鈥檛 want to do it, all of a sudden, he鈥檚 signing it,鈥� Trump said.
The Fox interview was broadcast just hours after Trump signed a sweeping executive order that sought to extend and consolidate direct White House control over federal regulatory agencies.
The order, which is likely to face legal challenges, would force agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission to submit regulatory proposals to the White House for review.
鈥楩or the Federal Government to be truly accountable to the American people, officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people鈥檚 elected President,鈥� the executive order states.
Musk found humour in his role as Trump鈥檚 executor, describing himself as a 鈥榯echnologist鈥� and donning a T-shirt that read 鈥楾ech Support鈥� for the interview.
Musk waved off criticism that he was acting as if he were the US president, saying none of Trump鈥檚 cabinet members were elected and that he views his role as facilitating Trump鈥檚 agenda.
鈥楾he president is the elected representative of the people, so it鈥檚 representing the will of the people,鈥� Musk explained.
鈥楢nd if the bureaucracy is fighting the will of the people and preventing the president from implementing what the people want, then what we live in is a bureaucracy and not a democracy.鈥�
Musk鈥檚 prominent role in the Trump administration has led to public questioning of who is really in charge at the White House, though the Republican leader was quick to dismiss rumours of bad blood between the two.
鈥楢ctually, Elon called me,鈥� Trump said. 鈥楬e said, 鈥榊ou know, they鈥檙e trying to drive us apart.鈥� I said, 鈥楢bsolutely.鈥欌��
But Trump expressed confidence that Americans will not be fooled by alleged efforts to strain ties between him and Musk.
鈥業 used to think they were good at it,鈥� Trump said, referring to the media. 鈥楾hey鈥檙e actually bad at it, because if they were good at it, I鈥檇 never be president.鈥�
鈥楾he people are smart,鈥� he went on. 鈥楾hey get it.鈥�