President Donald Trump claims he looked for “somebody smarter” than Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The federal cost-cutting task force was headed up by both Musk and Ohio governor hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy in its infancy. Trump said in a joint interview with his “first buddy” that he’d decided to go with Musk after apparently being unable to find someone more intelligent.
“You know, I wanted to find somebody smarter than him,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an interview recorded last week. “I searched all over. I just couldn’t do it,” he added. “I couldn’t. I really tried hard. I couldn’t find anyone smarter.”
“We settled on this guy,” Trump then quipped, gesturing towards Musk. “Well thanks for having me, I’m just trying to be useful,” responded Musk, looking shell-shocked by Trump’s apparent gag.
The chat was part of a wide-ranging interview on Hannity that descended into a bit of a love-in between the two subjects. In the opening few minutes, Musk declared: “I love the president.”
“I have spent a lot of time with the president, and not once have I seen him do something that was mean or cruel or wrong. Not once,” Musk claimed.
And Trump said he has “always respected” Musk, who is a “leader.”
“I wanted somebody really smart to work with me in terms of the country,” he added. He also said he has long admired the way the tech tycoon “fought hard” in the private sector.
“I wanted great people. And he’s a great person. He’s an amazing person. He’s also a caring person,” Trump said.
“He’s a good person, a very good person, and he wants the country to do well,” the president went on.
The president added that Musk wouldn’t be involved in any DOGE decisions where a conflict of interest might arise.
“If there’s a conflict, he won’t be involved,” Trump declared. “I mean, I wouldn’t want that, and he wouldn’t want it.”
The Hannity sit down comes after the White House claimed that Musk isn’t even part of DOGE at all. In a court filing Monday, it was stated that Musk is a “senior adviser to the president” and has “no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.”
“He is not an employee of the U.S. DOGE Service or U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization,” reads the sworn statement by White House Office of Administration Director Joshua Fisher. “Mr. Musk is not the U.S. DOGE, Service Administrator.”
