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Isa Soares Tonight
President Trump Addresses The Press From The Oval Office As Elon Musk Leaves The White House; President Trump Gifts Elon Musk A Large Golden Key During White House Send-Off; Trump And Musk Take Questions At White House. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired May 30, 2025 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And consequential government reform program in generations. And you know, the kinds of things that he's
found, and his people have found. He's brought a group of very smart people in, and they found things that are pretty unbelievable.
I have to say that the numbers that we're talking about are substantial, but they're going to be much more substantial with time because many of the
things that we're working on right now -- we're going to have to remember Elon as we find them. But the numbers could double and triple because many
things, we don't want to go out with them until we're sure.
But we've sent -- we found things that are unbelievably stupid and unbelievably bad with the Department of Government Efficiency. Elon
delivered a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington. DOGE has installed geniuses with an engineering mindset, and
unbelievably talented people in computers.
I actually asked Elon one time, what's their primary thing? And they have a lot of primary things all having to do with being smart. But he said the
thing that they're really -- the best that is working with computers so that they can't be outsmarted by somebody that's not so honest. That
happens to also be good with computers, but not as good as these people.
But the mindset and the senior ranks of every federal department and -- it's really changed. And with Elon's guidance, they're helping to detect
fraud, slash waste and modernize broken and outdated systems. So, as you know, we're talking about various systems and changing systems. And you
know, sadly, it takes a long time to do that.
You'll change -- let's say a system at IRS and computerize it properly where a job can be done in one-tenth the time, but it takes -- it takes
sometimes years to rebuild those systems. But we've started in many cases, we've started. I will say that this has less to do with Elon, but the air
traffic control systems, we're bidding out to the best companies in the world.
Those systems right now, they were -- what the previous administration was horrible what they did. They spent billions and billions of dollars, and in
the end, it didn't even come close to working. They tried to hook up wire to copper and it can't be done. And they just spent billions of dollars and
just wasted money -- actually made the system much worse.
So, we're going to get a brand new modern system. Congress is working with us on that, and we're going to get it done as quickly as we can. But it's
in the works. And once it's done, it will be good for 30 years. But we have a system that's 48 years old, and would have a modern computer hooked into
a very outdated computer, and they don't hook up.
I mean, they didn't hook up. So, after spending billions of dollars, they turned on the system and it never -- any cases, from local to countrywide,
they never worked. More than 75,000 bureaucrats have voluntarily left their taxpayer-funded jobs to come out and really do the -- do the job. Countless
wasteful and unnecessary contracts have been terminated.
And you know that we have terminated many contracts, and many contracts, Elon, are right now being looked at --
ELON MUSK, FOUNDER & CEO, TESLA & SPACEX: Yes --
TRUMP: And it may be six months, it may be almost a year in some cases, we're going through procedures, we're going through courts, and we'll
remember you as we announce billions of dollars of extra waste, fraud and abuse. Just as an example, DOGE canceled $101 million for DEI contracts at
the Department of Education, $101 million.
And that was just a small section of the Department of Education, $59 million for illegal alien hotel rooms in New York City, and the landlord
never made the kind of money that he made in the last short period of time, $59 million to a hotel in New York City, $45 million for diversity, equity
and inclusion scholarships in Burma.
In Burma, does anyone know about Burma? Forty two million dollars for social and behavioral change in Uganda. Forty million dollars to improve
the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. I can say it's $2 billion to Stacey Abrams --
MUSK: Right --
TRUMP: And her environmental movement. There was a $100 in the account, and all of a sudden they found $2 billion in the account. And I assume that's
being looked at. I don't know, I'm not sure, but I assume that's being looked at. Think of that, $2 billion, and then Lee will tell you, there's
another one over there for $20 billion being spent on another environmental -- OK, $20 billion, not $20 million, a lot, not $200,000 which is a lot.
So, think of it, in her case, she has a $100, and now all of a sudden, she gets hit with an infusion of $2 billion just before I take office.
[14:05:00]
Twenty million dollars for Arab Sesame Street in the Middle East. Nobody knows what that's all about. Nobody's been able to find it, $8 million for
making mice transgender. So, they spent $8 million on making mice transgender. And those are better than many of the others. I could sit here
all day and read things just like that, but we have other things to do.
So, it's much more than just that. We're totally committed to making the DOGE cuts permanent and stopping much more of the waste in the months to
come. We want to get our great, Big Beautiful Bill finished and done. After that, we're going to be -- we put some of this into the bill, but most of
it is going to come later.
We're going to have it cauterized by Congress, affirmed by Congress. In some cases, we'll make cuts. In some cases, we'll just use it in a
different layer to save the money. But it's hundreds of millions of dollars. DOGE has also fully modernized the federal retirement process and
continues to work very hard on the IRS modernization.
But we're taking that over with DOGE. Many of the DOGE people, Elon, are staying behind --
MUSK: Yes --
TRUMP: Too, so they're not --
MUSK: Absolutely --
TRUMP: Leaving. And Elon is really not leaving. He's going to be back and forth, I think -- I have a feeling. It's his baby, and I think he's going
to be doing a lot of things. But Elon's service to America has been without comparison in modern history. He's already running one of the most
innovative car companies in the world.
You look at his factories and compare them with some of the old factories we have, and it's a big difference. And the most successful space company
in, I guess in history, you would have to say. The largest free speech platform on the internet, et cetera, yet, Elon willingly, with all of the
success, he willingly accepted the outrageous abuse and slander and lies and attacks because he does love our country. I know that very much.
He loves our country -- he comes from another country, a country that's going through trials and tribulations, I would say. But he's all about the
USA, and Americans owe him a great debt of gratitude. So, I just want to thank Elon for his time as a special government employee, can you imagine,
to call him an employee, but he's a special government employee and for coming and helping us.
And he really has changed the mindset of a lot of people. A lot of people thought, you know, maybe we'll cut 1 percent or 2 percent or 3 percent.
Then they said, well, we can cut a lot more than that, and we're going to do it very surgically, we're going to continue on a -- on the march. We're
making America great again.
When I was in Saudi Arabia, and we were in, as you know, three really great countries, predominantly the three, Qatar was great, UAE was great, Saudi
Arabia, incredible. What is like such an incredible experience to be in those three countries. But the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia -- and I must
tell you, the leaders, the great leaders of the other two that we just mentioned, they all said the same thing that the United States is the
hottest country right now anywhere in the world.
And six months ago, we thought it was dead. It was like a dead country, and it would have been a dead country if we didn't have the right result on
November 5th. It would have been a -- horrible situation was going on with the borders, with transgender for everyone, men playing in women's sports
and so much more.
But they were saying, the hottest country anywhere in the world, and then I played that little clip because I was one person who's respected. But there
were two people because Joe was in that one, too. Joe's a good man, but that was one group of people saying something about the success of what
we've done over the last four months. They cannot believe it.
In the one case, they said they've never seen anything like it as long as they've been doing what they've been doing, they've been doing it for a
long time. So, I just -- I want to thank Elon for helping, and again, you know, the United States right now is the hottest country anywhere in the
world. There's no country as hot.
And we're doing really well where -- we came -- when I left, we had no wars, we had no problems, we defeated ISIS, we rebuilt our military, and we
had no inflation. And when I came back, we had a lot of inflation, we had wars all over the place, we had the embarrassment in Afghanistan where we
gave up billions and billions of dollars of military equipment, the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country, I believe, I believe
that strongly.
We have Russia with Ukraine. We had the attack on Israel in October, the horrible attack, October 7th, horrible attack, nobody's ever seen anything
like it. And now we have something where we're really healing a lot of that.
[14:10:00]
We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting, I believe that could have turned out into a nuclear disaster. And I want to thank the leaders of
India, the leaders of Pakistan, and I want to thank my people also, we talked trade, and we said we can't trade with people that are shooting at
each other and potentially using nuclear weapons.
And they were -- they're great leaders in those countries, and they understood, and they agreed, and that all stopped. And we're stopping
others from fighting also, because ultimately we can fight better than anybody, we have the greatest military in the world. We have the greatest
leaders in the world.
We put one of them in charge of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as you know, General "Razin" Caine, and we wiped out ISIS, completely wiped out ISIS in
three weeks. They said it would take five years, and we did it in three weeks. And that's the way it is. But we don't want to have to use our
military. We want to be peace through strength when we can. And that's the way we're going to have it.
So, I just want to thank Elon and all of his people, most of those people are staying, almost all of them are --
MUSK: Yes --
TRUMP: Staying, and they're going to be with us, and you're going to see the results coming long into the future, even a year and two years later,
you're going to see a lot of the results, and those hundreds of billions of dollars are going to be adding up, and they're going to continue to add.
And it will be interesting -- really interesting to see what the final number is going to be. But again, Elon gave an incredible service. Nobody
like him. And he had to go through the slings and the arrows, which is a shame because he's an incredible patriot. The good news is that 90 percent
of the country knows that, and they appreciate it, and they really appreciate what he did.
And I gave him a little special something -- we have here --
MUSK: Thank you --
TRUMP: A very special that I give to very special people. I have given it to some, but it goes to very special people, and I thought that I give it
to Elon, as a presentation from our country --
MUSK: Thank you --
TRUMP: Thank you, Elon --
MUSK: Thank you, thank you --
TRUMP: Take care of yourself --
MUSK: Thank you --
(APPLAUSE)
MUSK: You can see the love. I love that this is amazing.
TRUMP: That's right, large luck.
MUSK: Well, let me say perhaps a few words that this is not the end of DOGE, but really the beginning. My time as a special government employee
necessarily had to end. It was a limited time thing. It's 134 days, I believe, which ends in a few days. So that -- you know, it comes with a
time limit. And -- but the DOGE team will only grow stronger over time.
The DOGE influence will only grow stronger. It's -- I'd liken it to sort of Buddhism, it's like a way of life. So, it is permeating throughout the
government, and I'm confident that over time, we will see a trillion dollars of savings and a reduction in a trillion dollars of waste and fraud
reduction. The calculations of the DOGE team thus far in terms of an FY '25 to FY '26 Delta are over 160 billion and that's climbing.
We expect that probably -- that number will probably go over 200 billion soon. So, I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job. They're going
to continue to doing an incredible job, and I'll be -- and I'll continue to be visiting here and be a friend and adviser to the President. And I look
forward to, you know, times being back in this amazing room.
By the way, isn't this incredible? This incredible -- I mean, its stunning I think, the way that the Oval Office, the President has just completely
redone the Oval Office, it's beautiful. I love the gold on the ceiling.
TRUMP: Thank you. It's pretty nice.
MUSK: Yes. So --
TRUMP: That's been there a long time, that was plastered, nobody ever really saw it --
MUSK: Yes --
TRUMP: They didn't know the eagle was up there and we highlighted -- it's a -- essentially it's a landmark, a great landmark, and that's 24 karat gold,
and everybody loved it, and now they all see it when they come in. So, it's been -- it's been good.
MUSK: The Oval Office has -- you know, finally has the majesty that it deserves, thanks to the President. So, I look forward to continuing to be a
friend and adviser to the President, continuing to support DOGE team, and we are relentlessly pursuing a trillion dollars in waste and fraud
reductions which will benefit the American taxpayer. So, that's it, really. Thank you, Mr. President.
TRUMP: Thank you.
MUSK: All right --
TRUMP: Great job and thank you so much, thank you --
(APPLAUSE)
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS: Thank you President Trump. The President mentioned that you had to deal with all the slings and arrows during your time at
DOGE. There's this --
MUSK: Some of the people -- you know, some of the media organizations in this room were the slingers.
DOOCY: Well, so --
(LAUGHTER)
DOOCY: There is a "New York Times" report today that accuses you of blurring the line --
MUSK: Oh, wait --
[14:15:00]
DOOCY: Between --
MUSK: It's the "New York Times", is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer prize for false reporting on the Russiagate? Is it the same
organization?
DOOCY: I've got to check my Pulitzer, my Pulitzer are kind of --
MUSK: I think it is, I think it is --
TRUMP: It is.
MUSK: So, I think -- I think the judge just ruled against "New York Times" for their lies about the Russiagate hoax, and that they might have to give
back that Pulitzer Prize. That "New York Times", let's move on.
DOOCY: OK, thanks --
MUSK: Next question --
DOOCY: President Trump, I got one for -- I got one for President Trump. So, President Trump, Biden aides who used to work here are in talks with
Republicans in Congress to go and testify about what they did or didn't do to possibly conceal President Biden's decline. Do you think that Dr. Jill
Biden should also have to come in and testify about what she did or didn't do?
TRUMP: Well, I hate the concept of it. It's the wife of a man who was going through a lot of problems, and everybody that dealt with him understood
that. And I guess it came out during the debate loud and clear. That was a big -- that was the biggest signal of all. They have to do what's right.
The country was -- there was a lot of dishonesty in the election, as you know, 2020 that's been now caught, people understand it, it was a rigged
election.
And when you go further out, when you see the auto pen -- I mean, I think the auto pen is going to become one of the great scandals of all time,
because you have somebody operating it or a number of people operating, because I knew Joe Biden, Joe Biden wasn't in favor of opening up borders,
letting 21 million people into this from prisons and mental institutions and gang members, he wasn't into that at all.
And you know, who signed the -- who signed these orders, proclamations and all of the different things that he signed that set our country so far
back. That was -- that was so bad for our country.
DOOCY: With the auto pen, how did it work? Like we're in the Oval Office right now, if there was a group of rogue staffers that worked for you --
TRUMP: Yes --
DOOCY: Who wanted to advance a bill or an executive order without your knowledge, how could they do it? How do they go and frame a president --
TRUMP: Well, it's very hard because I'd read your newspapers or your media the next day, and I'd say, well, I didn't approve that, and I would find
it. I mean, they wouldn't get away with it for long because I'd say I never signed that. Who the hell signed that? Auto pens to me are used to sign
letters to people because we get, I think they said 20,000 letters a week.
And you'd like to be able -- when somebody takes the time to write a letter, it's nice to sort of write back, and auto pens are meant for that.
Auto pens are not meant to sign major proclamations or tax cuts or borders, anything having to do with the border, which is so important. And if it
happened on my watch, I would be able to see it, because the next day or sooner, I'd be reading about something that I knew nothing about, and who
the hell signed this?
So, I almost never used the auto pen. In fact, yesterday, I was signing about 81, I think it was 81 proclamations and statements to people that I
think should be signed by us. I think when you write letters to foreign dignitaries or presidents or prime ministers, you should be signing those
letters, not done with auto pens.
I understand he signed almost everything with an auto pen. It's a very dangerous thing. It really means you're not president. Whoever operated the
auto pen, and we think we know who that is, and it was actually more than one person, but that's not what the presidency is all about. I hardly used
it.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to lift the tariffs on China. You said that they violated the agreement with the U.S.
TRUMP: Well, they did, they were -- they violated a big part of the agreement we made. You know, if you read that whole statement, I was very
nice to them. I helped them because they were in trouble with the stoppage of a massive amount of business. But I'm sure that I'll speak to President
Xi, and hopefully we'll work that out. But yes, that's a -- there's a violation of the agreement, yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, can you give us an update to the latest ceasefire agreement that Israel has agreed to, but Hamas still
considering?
TRUMP: Well, they're very close to an agreement on Gaza, and we'll let you know about it during the day or maybe tomorrow when we have a chance of
that. And I think we have a chance of making a deal with Iran also. They don't want to be blown up. They would rather make a deal, and I think that
could happen in the not too distant future.
That would be a great thing if we can have a deal without bombs being dropped all over the Middle East, that would be a very good thing. They
can't have a nuclear weapon.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: We want them, we want them to be safe. We want them to have a very successful nation. Let it be a great nation, but we can't have them -- they
cannot have a nuclear weapon. It's very simple. And I think we're fairly close to a deal with Iran.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Question to Elon --
TRUMP: Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said just now that you look forward to being a friend and adviser to the President. So --
MUSK: Oh, I am --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you expect to continue --
MUSK: I'm already proposing(ph) --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Advising the President and DOGE informally, or are you going to sort of shift your focus entirely to your companies?
[14:20:00]
MUSK: Well, I expect to continue to provide advice whatever the President would like advice --
TRUMP: I hope so --
MUSK: I mean, I'm -- yes, it's -- expect to remain a friend and an adviser and certainly, if there's anything the President wants me to do, I'm at the
President's service.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Musk --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Musk, on DOGE, you said that there was a trillion dollar promise for cuts from DOGE.
MUSK: Yes, I think we do expect over time to achieve a trillion dollars.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But what have you found in your time here was the biggest roadblock to getting those cuts. Was it the cabinet or was it
Congress or something else? What was the biggest roadblock from your work?
MUSK: It's mostly just a lot of hard work. It's really not any one person or Congress. It's going through really millions of line items and seeing
just each one of them makes sense or does it not make sense? Obviously, at times when you cut expenses, those who are receiving the money, whether
they receive -- whether they're receiving that money legitimately or not, they do complain.
And you're not going to hear someone confessing that they received money inappropriately. Never. They're going to always say that they received
money appropriately for an important cause naturally, that's what you'd expect. But -- so, we just have to -- it's a -- it's just a lot of work
going through the vast expanses of the federal government and just really asking questions.
What's this money for? Are you sure it's actually being used well? Many times we can't even find anyone who defends it. So, for a lot of the
expenses, there is actually no defender at all. And then we have to just go work through the process of stopping the -- stopping the spending, where
there's often literally no defender.
Nobody even knows why the money is being spent. It's truly absurd. I mean, we find situations where there are -- there are millions of software
licenses where with zero people using them. Zero. Exactly. This is the critical expression, you're like, surely if there's millions of software
licenses, someone should be using it? No.
And then we just we've got to go through the process of saying, OK, look, if no one is using the software, we can terminate this software license
agreement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was he --
MUSK: That's everywhere in the government by the way --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Musk, what do you think would be easier, colonizing Mars or making the government efficient?
MUSK: It's a tough call. But I think colonizing Mars and making life multi- planetary is harder. And as I said, we do -- we don't -- we do expect to achieve over time the trillion-dollars of savings. We can't do it in like a
few months. But if you say by the -- I think the official end of DOGE, Mr. President may choose to extend, is the middle of next year.
Say by the middle of next year, with the support of the President and Congress, could we achieve trillion dollars of savings? I think so. We're
on track to do so.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that Congress is going to --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Go ahead, you --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you Mr. President. You had mentioned earlier in the week that DOGE had become a whipping boy. And as the President
mentioned, you went through a lot to go through this --
MUSK: Yes --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Process. Was it worth it for you and what would you change?
MUSK: Yes, so what we found was happening was that if there were any cuts anywhere, then people would assume that was done by DOGE. And so, we became
like essentially the DOGE boogeyman, where if -- you know, any cut anywhere would be ascribed to DOGE. You know, a friend of mine's daughter who's at
law school at Georgetown thought that DOGE had cut the Senate -- you know, the internships -- for the legal internships for the Senate.
And we had nothing to do with that. So, if there had been cut, it's not to do with us, just as an example. So, you know, it just became a bit
ridiculous where anything, any cut, anywhere was somehow DOGE, yet, and including things that made no sense, and we would agree, it made no sense.
So, there are many things that occur in the government because it's the -- it's the banal evil of bureaucracy. It's sort of the -- frankly, largely
uncaring nature of bureaucracy. As the great Morgan Freeman(ph) said, money is spent most poorly when it is someone else's money being spent on people
you don't know.
And that's how federal spending is. And then you can't really even blame the individuals because the way the government works is complaint
minimization. So, when you do try to -- when someone within the government tries to stop money being spent, there's usually some of that complaints.
And then their manager will say it's not worth the trouble, just pay it anyway. That happens over and over again.
(CROSSTALK)
MUSK: I think it was a -- I think it was --
TRUMP: Yes --
MUSK: Important thing. I think it was a necessary thing. And I think we'll have a good effect in the future.
[14:25:00]
DOOCY: Thank you. President trump.
TRUMP: Yes.
DOOCY: This week, there was a video on board a plane that showed the first lady of France slapping her husband, Emmanuel Macron. Do you have any world
leader to world leader marital advice --
(LAUGHTER)
DOOCY: For Mr. Macron?
TRUMP: Make sure the door remains closed.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: That was not good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes --
TRUMP: That was not good. Now, I spoke to him, he's fine, they're fine, they're two really good people, I know them very well. And I don't know
what that was all about, but I know him very well and they're fine.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a little side right here --
DOOCY: What do you think about this Democratic Party plan to avoid being swept in every battleground state again by spending $20 million to study
how to speak to American men?
TRUMP: Well, you know, they spent -- they spent $2.8 billion, we spent 1.5, we spent much less. We spent about half of what they spent. And at the end,
they were $28 million short. They had to be -- they spent $2.8 billion, it's a lot, but they couldn't get $28 million at the end. And now they want
to spend -- I read that they want to spend money to learn how to talk. That's fake. You don't want to be fake.
You shouldn't have to hire consultants to say what America needs, because, you know, then they should be -- the consultants should be running the
deal, not them. But I read that they want to spend a lot of money in each state. So, we won all seven swing states, seven out of seven. We won a lot
more than that. We won the popular vote. We won everything.
And they want to spend money to find out what they did wrong. And I mean, I could tell you what they did wrong. I could tell you every one of their
programs when they say men playing in women's sports, I would say that's not a winner. When they say transgender for everybody, I think that's not a
winner.
When they say open borders, so the entire world population of criminals can pour into our country. I don't think that's a winner. I mean, I can -- I
just gave them that for free. But I don't know if they'll change their ways. I see them all the time. I see people that I know in Congress,
Democrats, they're trying to justify some of the things I just said.
You can't justify them. They're -- you know, they -- I always hear they're 80-20 issues. I say they're not 80-20, they're 97-3. They might be 99-1.
They're not 80-20. They wish they were 80-20. And they're wasting a lot of money if they're going to continue with that nonsense.
DOOCY: And this one is a little bit more of a page 6 question. But back when you hosted "The Apprentice", you mentioned once in 2012 that "Diddy"
was a good friend of yours back then. He has since found himself in some very serious legal trouble.
TRUMP: Yes, it's true.
DOOCY: Would you ever consider pardoning him?
TRUMP: I -- well, nobody's asked, you had to be the one to ask Peter, but nobody's asked. But I know people are thinking about it. I know they're
thinking about it. I think people have been very close to asking. First of all, I'd look at what's happening, and I haven't been watching it too
closely, although it's certainly getting a lot of coverage.
I haven't seen him. I haven't spoken to him in years. He used to really like me a lot, but I think when I ran for politics, he sort of -- that
relationship busted up from what I read, I don't know, he didn't tell me that. But I'd read some little bit nasty statements in the paper all of a
sudden. You know, it's different.
You become a much different person when you run for politics and you do what's right. I could do other things, and I'm sure he'd like me, and I'm
sure other people would like me, but it wouldn't be as good for our country. As we said, our country is doing really well because of what we're
doing, so I can't -- it's not a popularity contest.
So, I don't know. I would certainly look at the facts, if I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don't like me, it wouldn't have any
impact on me.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, on the Big Beautiful Bill, on the Big Beautiful Bill, would you like to see the Senate build in some support for
your tariffs on the Big Beautiful Bill, or should that be a standalone bill?
TRUMP: I have great support on the tariffs. I mean, I was so honored that we got that ridiculous stay lifted because that would have taken away
presidential power. It would have taken away everything that was granted by the founders. It would have been a terrible thing. And it would have most
importantly, it would have left us vulnerable.
We have a lot of countries that use tariffs on us and use them viciously, actually, viciously. And if we didn't have the power to use tariffs on them
and instantly, not when you go back to Congress and try and get hundreds of people to agree on something, that would take months to get just one simple
proclamation.
if we didn't have the power to counteract their powers, you wouldn't have a country left. We have to act fast. We have to be fast and nimble as they
say. And that was a really great moment, I think yesterday when that stay was lifted. And hopefully, now we'll go to court and just win that battle.
Because if we don't have the power to do what they're doing to us, we are going to be a great nation no longer.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly, Mr. President. Elon Musk was once idolized by folks on the left in this country before joining your administration --
TRUMP: That's true --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now he's considered a hero by conservatives. Why do you think this man on what he's done in American life has been so politicized?
Does it only --
[14:30:06]
TRUMP: Well, his life has been -- his life has been amazing. I mean, I look at so many different things. I look at -- I look at that rocket being, you
know, guided back into position. I've never seen that before. I thought it was a space movie. I thought it was a movie.
You look at what he's done in terms of communication, it's been unbelievable. So many different -- even tunnels going underground not
having to go through all the process of going -- you know, he's got a company that does that. He's got so many different companies. Starlink as
an example. He saved a lot of lives, probably hundreds of lives in North Carolina.
I don't even know if you remember, but I called you. They needed Starlink in North Carolina. And I didn't know what the hell Starlink was. I said
what is it? Who owns it? They said, do you know Elon Musk. I said yes, I happen to know the gentleman. This was before his government stay. And they
said we really need it because North Carolina was literally became an island. It was -- people had no communication, they had no access to
anything, and they were dying. And I called up Elon. And you can't get it because it's so successful, it's very hard to get. And he had so much of it
brought over there. And they told me it was unbelievable, saved a lot of lives.
So, you know, he's just done a lot of things. He -- I don't think -- frankly, I don't think he gets credit for what he's done, but he's -- and
he's a very good person too.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: You know what? If he wasn't a good person -- if he wasn't -- but he did the same things, you know, I'd probably maybe speak differently. He
happens to be a really good person who loves the country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, on the One Big Beautiful Bill, you had indicated this week that there were some things you didn't like about what
had passed in the House. What changes do you want to see the Senate make? And you had also indicated there were things you didn't like about the
bill. What would you be suggesting he pushed senators to change in their version?
TRUMP: Well I'll tell you, I'll go first. It's an unbelievable bill. It cuts your deficits. It cuts -- you know, it's a huge cutting, but there's
the things I'd like to see. Maybe cut a little bit more. I'd like to see a bigger cut in taxes. It's going to be the largest tax decrease or cut in
the history of our country. I'd like to see it get down to an even lower number. I was shooting for a slightly lower number. I would have liked to
have done that.
But with all of that being said, when you look at the tax cut, and the fact that the original tax cut which made us so success -- we had the most
successful four years in the history of our country, the economy, and this is going to be even better. And you see that by the reports that came out
just yesterday or tonight. I guess they were released this morning at 8:00. You see the kind of numbers where somebody that's a pro is like, whoa I
haven't seen numbers like this since I've been doing this. You know, these are human emotions of professionals that have never seen numbers like. And
we've just -- we've just started.
The bill is a great bill. It's going to be jigged around a little bit. It's going to be negotiated with the Senate, with the House. But the end result
is it extends the Trump tax cuts. If it doesn't get approved, you'll have a 68 percent tax increase. You're going to go up 68 percent. That's a number
that nobody's ever heard of before. You'll have a massive tax increase. If it does get approved, you'll have a large tax cut, the largest we've ever
had, when you add the past tax cuts that we got you, the Trump tax -- they call them the Trump tax cuts.
It's an amazing bill. It does amazing things. With all of that, it's going to be adjusted a little bit over the next coming weeks, and I think it's
going to be passed. The Republicans want to pass it. With all of the great things it does, including an extension of debt -- it's the extension. We
have to extend the debt. If we don't extend debt, we're in default.
Now, the Democrats might like our country to be in default, but in 250 years we've never been in default. That was handed to them by a very well-
meaning man that gave it to them because he thought it was the right thing to do. It could have been their problem before the election, but this man
thought it was the right thing to do, and he was well-meaning. I don't hold anything against him for that, but that was put on our plate when it should
have been on the Democrats. September 28th, a famous date, it should have been taken care of by the Democrats.
But this person, a man of power, gave it to us so that in June that comes due. Well, we have to take care of that because if we don't take care of
it, we have a country in default, and we don't ever want to have a country in default.
You know, I'll tell you a certain senator, Elizabeth Warren, said that she would never ever allow a default on our debt. She would never let it
happen. And she would like to get rid of the debt ceiling, what's called the debt ceiling. I call it the debt extension because we really need an
extension. That she'd like to see that gotten rid of. And there are many people that agree. Many Democrats agree with that. But we gave that through
-- and you know, I don't want to say an error. He did it well meaning. They gave that to us. It was a Democrat problem just before the election. It
would have had a huge impact on the election. And to our benefit -- we won anyway, but to our benefit. But felt that really for the good of the
country we should extend that.
[14:35:30]
But Elizabeth Warren and various other people would like to see that -- her whole career she wanted to see it terminated, gotten rid of, not being
voted on every five years or 10 years. And the reason was because it's so catastrophic for our country. And I always agreed with her. That was one
thing I agreed with her on.
Now, I haven't spoken to her, but I would say that if you asked her that question now, she'd say no, no, it's their problem. But it's a very
unfortunate situation. It's a very unfair situation. And she happened to be right on that. It should be gotten rid of or it should simply be extended.
But that's one of the things that gets taken care of in this bill. That automatically gets extended for a four-year period, and it should be. But I
agree with Elizabeth Warren on that. I think you should get rid of it. It's too catastrophic.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Yes, please. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What message do you like to send to international students? Do you -- are they still welcomed to study in the United States?
And one question for Mr. Musk --
TRUMP: The students? Well, we want to have great students here. We just don't want students that are causing trouble. We want to have students. I
want to have foreign students. I think, Harvard, you know, it's close to 31 percent. That's a lot our. Country has given $5 billion-plus to Harvard
over a short period of time. Nobody knew that. We found that out. I wouldn't say that was a DOGE thing, but we found that out over a period of
time. That was sort of a Trump thing. We ended up in litigation for other reasons because they're very antisemitic.
And in finding out and in going through the books, we found out that the country gave them $5 billion-plus, much more than that, actually. And we're
having it out with them and let's see what happens. I think we have a very good -- well, it's a very sad case. It's a case we'll win. We can't lose
that case because we have the right to make grants. We're not going to make any grants like that.
But I don't think Harvard has been acting very nicely. I think Columbia wants to get to the bottom of the problem. They've acted very well. And
there are other institutions too they're acting, but Harvard is trying to be a big shot. And all that happens is every three days we find another
$100 million that was given. Last two days ago, we found $200 million more. The money is given to them like gravy.
I'd like to see the money go to trade schools where people learn how to fix motors and engines, where people learn how to build rocket ships, because
you know somebody has to build those rocket ships. And I'd like to see trade school set up because you could take $5 billion-plus, hundreds of
billions more which is what's spent. And you could have the greatest trade school system anywhere in the world. And that's what we need, to build his
rockets and robots and things that he's doing and to build lots of other things.
And you know I went to school with people. In some cases, they weren't good students, but they could fix the engine of a car better than anybody I've
ever seen. They could take it apart blindfolded. They had an ability at that. And they did very well. They made a lot of money. You know, it's a
very skilled job. It's great. But I'd like to see a lot of money going into trade schools. I've always felt that.
And we probably found our pot of gold, and that's what's been wasted at places like Harvard. And the money's been wasted. Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Well, I wanted to ask quickly Mr. Musk. What -- is your eye OK? What happened to your eye? I noticed there was a bruise there.
ELON MUSK, CEO, TESLA: Well, it wasn't -- I wasn't anywhere near France, so but --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does that mean?
MUSK: No --
TRUMP: I didn't notice it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first lady of France is what he means.
MUSK: Slapped, you know.
TRUMP: I didn't notice.
MUSK: So, yes. No, I was just horsing around with the X. And I said, go ahead, punch me in the face, and he did. It turns out even a 5-year-old
punching you in the -- in the face actually does --
TRUMP: That was X that did that.
MUSK: Yes.
TRUMP: X could do it. If you knew X, he could do it.
MUSK: I saw his mom right now. But I didn't -- I didn't really feel much at the time, and then I guess it bruises up, but I just run around with the
kids.
TRUMP: I didn't notice it actually.
PETER DOOCY, CORRESPONDENT, FOX NEWS: Mr. President, I got one. I know that you tried to stay pretty neutral because not your war. But as --
TRUMP: And by the way, not my war. I just want to solve the problem for people. This was not a war that was going to happen if I were president.
DOOCY: Right. And so, not your war, but as you try to fix it, and as you survey this hellscape of the Ukrainian front lines --
TRUMP: It's horrible.
DOOCY: And you guys -- you and your team deal with a very stubborn Vladimir Putin, do you look --
TRUMP: And Zelenskyy --
DOOCY: But do you look at this conflict --
TRUMP: Very stubborn Zelenskyy too.
DOOCY: -- any differently now? Like, do you look at this and see Putin as the good guy or the bad guy?
[14:40:03]
TRUMP: So, I've known him very well. And I went through a lot of things with him because Russia was, you know, the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax. It
turned out to be a total hoax. New York Times, they got a Pulitzer Prize. They have to give back the Pulitzer Prize. That's my lawsuit. And they're
doing very poorly in that lawsuit but, you know, they wrote stories about how it was true, and it was false. And you know, a lot of Washington Post
also.
I have gotten to see things that I was very surprised at. Rockets being shot into cities like Kyiv during a negotiation that I felt was maybe very
close to ending. We were going to solve a problem and then all of a sudden rockets got shot into a couple of cities and people died. I saw things that
I was surprised at. So -- and I don't like being surprised. So, I'm very disappointed in that way.
With that being said I'd like to see it end. 5,000 people -- I think the number is -- even more than that, but 5,000 people a week are being killed,
mostly soldiers but also people that live in little cities and towns throughout Ukraine, and I'd like to see that stop.
DOOCY: And I asked Karoline this yesterday, but I want to ask you directly. So many of the things that you're trying to do are held up in court right
now. If the courts are going to have so much influence over U.S. policy, do you wish he would have just become a judge instead?
TRUMP: Yes. Well, look, it wasn't meant to be that way. If you look at the founders, the president had certain powers. And you have your three groups,
and they all had supposed to be equal -- pretty equal powers. But you can't have a judge in Boston running foreign policy in places all over the
country because he is a -- he's got a liberal bent or he's a radical left person. That's what the executive branch is for. And you have checks and
balances.
But we had millions of people pour into our country. Many, many criminals poured into our country, murderers, murderers, mental institutions from all
over the world being emptied out into our country. And if we don't get them out and get them out quickly, we're going to -- could lose your country
very easily. These are -- this is a bad -- that anybody would allow this to happen to our country -- you know, with all of the things. We took over
inflation, we took over some wars, we took over a lot of problems that didn't exist when I was president. None of it existed. We wiped out ISIS.
Other than that, we had no wars. Putin was never going to hit Ukraine. Israel would have never been attacked.
That attack -- as you know, Iran had no money. They didn't have money for Hamas. They didn't have money for Hezbollah. They had no money whatsoever.
That wasn't going to happen. All of these things that happened weren't going to happen. You wouldn't have had inflation. So, it's very sad when I
came back. But the thing that is the hardest is that they allowed 21 million people into our country, and many of those people are stone-cold
criminals. They moved their criminal population into the United States.
And of all the things that, you know, are bad -- I solved inflation I believe already. I got the fuel prices down. The fuel prices came down.
That's one of the reasons -- they screwed up the energy. They screwed up the cost of gasoline and oil and gas. And you had tremendous inflation --
the greatest inflation probably in the history of our country under Biden. And when people said, oh, but the economy was -- no, the economy was
terrible for the people because they couldn't afford the energy. And the energy brought everything else up. Energy is the big deal.
But with all of that, we solved that already. In four months we solved it. $1.99, $1.98 gasoline. First time people have seen that in a long time
since my term. But the hardest thing to solve is millions of people pouring into our country, many of whom are criminals. Because remember, these
countries are smart. Their leaders are very street-smart. They're sending the people that they don't want. They don't want the people that are there
that are law-abiding, that are productive that are working hard. They want people that are in jails. They're -- we have them. They allow them to come
in.
And I always look to the other side. Like, why would somebody do something. You know, in business, I try and study why would they want to do this? Why
would they want to sell it? Why would they want to buy it? One thing I can't figure out is what would an administration -- what were they thinking
when they allowed millions of people from prisons all over the world, not just from South America, Venezuela, all over the world, from the Congo in
Africa. Hundreds of people, thousands of people from the Congo, rough, rough prisoners, from Asia, from Europe, rough parts of Europe. Why would
they allow them to come into our country? Why would they do that?
[14:45:10]
It's the one thing I can't figure out. And I don't believe it was Joe Biden. I really don't. I mean, look, he's a -- he's been a sort of a
moderate person over his lifetime. Not a smart person, but somewhat vicious person I will say. If you feel sorry for him, don't feel so sorry because
he's vicious. What he did with his political opponent and all of the people that he hurt -- he hurt a lot of people, Biden. And so, I really don't feel
sorry for him. But he wasn't a person that would allow murderers to come into our country. He wasn't a person that was in favor of transgender for
anybody that wanted it. Take kids out of families, etcetera, etcetera. So, I just don't understand why a thing like this, how a thing like this could
have been allowed to happen. Very sad. It's very -- it's very sad.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: It's very sad for our country.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Go ahead.
MUSK: I think the fundamental moral flaw of the left is empathy for the criminals and not empathy for the victims. Empathy for the criminals but
not empathy for the victims. And there's been way too much of that. That needs to stop. To the pres -- the president's point, there's been immense
judicial overreach that is unconstitutional that was never intended. And it's undermining the people's faith in the legal system. It needs to stop.
It's gone too far.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And just -- and just today, we had -- just a couple of hours ago we had a great decision from the Supreme Court, thank goodness, that was very
important. We had two important decisions, yesterday on the tariffs, because again we have to be able to fight a fair fight with other
countries, Howard, would you say. We have to be able to use tariffs to fight people that use tariffs on us. I mean, if we didn't have that power
of tariffs, we wouldn't -- we would economically be destroyed as a country because they will destroy us. Other countries will destroy us with
unchecked tariffs.
We can check them when we have the use. They tried to take that power away from us. And if you take that power away, we're not going to have a
country. We won't have an economically viable country. But it's very important on immigration that we be able to get people out without having
to go through a long court case. I mean, if it was up to some of these judges, every single one of these millions of people, millions of people,
criminals, prisoners, that were let go from jails because they save a fortune when they do. They brought them into the United States.
You know what they're saving, the money they're saving? But some of murderers -- it's very important that we're able to get those people out of
here fast, bring them back to their country where they belong. And those countries take them because if they don't take them, they have to go
through the wrath of the United States, and they take them. But we have judges that don't want that to happen. And it would be -- it's a terrible
thing.
The -- that's going through the court system right now, that whole situation. But when ICE and with Border Patrol, they've done an incredible
job. When they do this incredible job, and they capture 100 killers and drug dealers. And we can't keep them for years here as we go through
trials. We have to get them out rapidly. And we know who they are. We know who they are. And we're very careful about who they are. But we have to get
them out rapidly or again we're not going to have a country, OK.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Maybe one or two more. Go ahead, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, are concerned that tariff may also affect companies like Tesla which has parts manufactured abroad? And this
is also to you, Mr. Musk.
TRUMP: Well he's going to end up building his whole car here. I mean, I thought he built his whole car. Pretty much he does. He's got incredible
factories in -- like, I looked at one in Texas. It's unbelievable. And no, all of the manufacturers will build their parts here too. I mean, I -- it
used to bother me they make a part in Canada, part in Mexico, a part in Europe, and sent all over the place and nobody knew what the hell was
happening. I think it's ridiculous.
You build a car, make it in America. And I gave them a little leeway on that. You know, I gave them some leeway. But over the next year, they've
got to have the whole thing built in America. That's what we want.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: We want -- we want America to buy American-built cars. Thank you very much, everybody.
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You're listening there to President Donald Trump alongside Elon Musk been speaking there for about 49 minutes
or so. President Trump as you saw there hosting Elon Musk in the Oval Office. And it comes as Elon Musk's tenure as a special government employee
comes to an end. He has been lead, as you know, the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE.
[14:50:03]
The President spoke of colossal change that he brought with DOGE. He said billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse. He did say though that Musk
-- Elon he said not really leaving, he said. He'll be back and forth. And he did speak for a lot of that time not just about what Musk has achieved.
And we can talk about that in just a moment and the promises in terms of waste, but he also spoke about tariffs, Gaza, Iran, Ukraine, and his battle
and his feud with Harvard.
Let's go straight to our White House Reporter Betsy Klein. And Betsy, let's start off first with what we heard from the President on Musk. He thanked
him for his service, but it seems like he's not going anywhere and there's no end to DOGE it seems.
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. Elon Musk had joined the Trump Administration as a special government employee which
really had an end point on his government service, and the last day of that is today. But he made clear he is a friend of the president's, and adviser
of the president's, and would continue to do so.
I just want to take a look at some of my notes. Elon Musk -- President Trump praised Musk. He said that the work of DOGE would continue. He said
that Musk had enacted colossal change. And he said he's really not leaving. He's going to be back and forth.
Now, Elon Musk for his part, wearing a DOGE father T-shirt and matching DOGE hat said it was not the end of DOGE, but the beginning. He compared
the Department of Government Efficiency that he has spearheaded to Buddhism saying that it is a way of life.
Now, Musk oversaw massive transformation of the size and scope of the federal government through the Department of Government Efficiency. At
least 121,000 federal workers were laid off or targeted for layoffs in Trump's first 100 days, thousands more took buyout offers. He still fell
far short of that stated goal of eliminating $1 trillion in government waste. He said he still expects to achieve that.
Now, all of this even as his companies SpaceX, Tesla, and X of course have struggled in part as a result of his connection and alliance with the Trump
Administration. He has said previously that he probably spent too much time on politics and will be returning to really oversee those companies in a
full-time capacity going forward.
And all of this comes as we've seen a bit of a divergence between Musk and the White House saying he -- they sometimes have differences of opinion in
this new interview with CBS, but this was clearly a show of force between President Trump and Elon Musk on his last day.
SOARES: Yes. And look, I found it really interesting as well. He outlined the President some of those achievements. Important to point out that he
was a man that pretty much wielded a chainsaw and cut so many jobs, so many civil servant jobs, upended so many lives of course and demoralized so many
people. So, that is important to point out.
But let's speak to how he leaves because clearly, he's staying on as an adviser and he said that and the president said that. He came in very much
as Trump's self-proclaimed first body. How is he leaving? How is he being seen here?
KLEIN: Well, I think it's a --it's a great question because his standing in some parts of the White House has been quite diminished. There were people
in the White House at a senior level who weren't happy with the proverbial and literal chainsaw that he wielded to some of these government programs.
Some of them believing that he moved too quickly and with not enough precision. At one point, Trump said he was going to use a scalpel rather
than a chainsaw, be a little bit more exacting with those types of government cuts.
And as I mentioned, his companies have really suffered financially in part as a result of his relationship with Trump over the past few months and his
real embrace of the MAGA Movement. So, clearly he recognizes that it is time to turn his attention elsewhere also because of the way that that
special government employee status works. He really only had about 120 days of government service before he would have to be subject to more intense
financial scrutiny.
SOARES: Do we know -- I mean, for so many of the promises that he made, and I know he did say, Betsy, that over time we'll reach $1 trillion of
savings. How much in terms of savings has U.S. achieved under Trump? Because I was looking at some numbers today as well I think in terms of
spending, it's going to be up nine percent or so in the year. So, how much have they actually saved here?
KLEIN: Well, they've fallen very, very short of that $1 trillion goal. That's for sure. I mean, I think that they really have seen some cuts to
the federal workforce. Of course, 121,000 is a lot of people taking buyouts, taking -- that are being laid off as well, but not a real -- the
vast scale and scope that Musk had previewed and expected.
And he said at one point that it's just -- it's hard. He was asked if Congress was to blame, if the cabinet was to blame. And he said it wasn't
really any one thing. It's just hard and slow work to transform the federal government. Of course, he has made a sizable dent. He has removed entire
sections of the federal government, including USAID as we saw early in the Trump Administration, but a lot of his moves were really met with some
strong push back particularly from the federal court system.
[14:55:31]
SOARES: And we've got about a minute or so left here on the show. But it seems to me that not only is he staying on, he's staying on as an advisor.
How will that be received you think, Betsy?
KLEIN: I think he's always going to be a person who has Trump's ear. He can always pick up the phone and get the President on the line. I think there
is a lot of back and forth that we should expect to continue. But I don't think we are going to see Musk's influence in the way that we saw it
particularly in February and March as he really wielded extreme power. That is not going to happen going forward just given his distance that he has
placed from the White House.
SOARES: His focus perhaps turning to his companies that perhaps hasn't -- haven't done as well as he would have liked. Betsy, I know you'll be back
at the top of the hour. Thanks very much for staying with us. Betsy Klein there.
And that does it for us for this evening. Very busy hour as you saw. Do stay right here. "WHAT WE KNOW" is up next.
END
