President Trump praised Elon Musk for doing a “great job” heading the new Department of Government Efficiency — but said he should be even “more aggressive” as he blasts through federal agencies to eliminate waste.
“Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive,” Trump said in a Saturday post on Truth Social.
“Remember, we have a country to save, but ultimately, to make greater than ever before,” he added.
Musk replied on X shortly after, saying, “Will do, Mr. President!”
DOGE, which was created under the Trump administration, has fired tens of thousands of federal government workers and frozen billions in federal grants and foreign aid.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote later Saturday on X.
“Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” he added.
So far, the department says it has saved around $55 billion thanks to “a combination of fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancelations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancelations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings.”
The tech billionaire, who is an unpaid, unelected “special government employee,” is aiming to slash $1 trillion from the federal deficit, along with his team of 100 cost-cutters.
In its latest move, DOGE teamed up with the US Environmental Protection Agency to cut more than $67 million in grant money earmarked for former President Joe Biden’s environmental justice agenda.
Trump says he is considering a plan to cut a check to American taxpayers for 20% of the savings DOGE identifies.
A federal judge in New York issued a preliminary injunction Friday preventing DOGE from accessing the Treasury Department’s central payment system. The case was led by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
In other cases, however, judges have ruled against preventing Musk’s team from accessing sensitive government databases.
With Post wires
