Trump defends Musk and says that Dege will analyze military spending

President Trump has defended the impulse of Elon Musk to close sections of the United States government amid legal challenges, transparency concerns and questions about conflicts of interest.

“He is not winning anything. In fact, I wonder how time can dedicate,” Trump said Sunday.

Democrats have accused Musk of personally benefiting from some of the changes that the Trump administration is trying to promote, such as the proposed closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Trump said the efficiency department of the unofficial government of Musk (Doge) would soon examine the expense in the Army and the Department of Education, possibly in the next “24 hours.”

“Let’s see the military,” he said. “We are going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud and abuse, and people chose me in that.”

Earlier on Sunday, the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Pete Hegseth, told Fox News to “welcome” Dux putting military spending under the microscope.

“When we spend dollars, we need to know where they are going and why, and that has not existed in the Department of Defense,” he said.

Trump’s comments on Musk and Dege came from an interview with Fox News Bret Baier journalist during a transmission prior to the game before Sunday Super Bowl.

During the interview, the president also said he was not satisfied with the actions taken by Mexico and Canada on illegal drugs and border crossings.

He also said that his proposal to turn Canada was taken seriously into state 51 of the United States, an idea of ​​the broad. Most Canadians oppose.

Doge employees have entered several government departments since Trump assumed the position and led the position to try to close Usaid.

In recent days, some Dux employees They have been seen in the Office of Financial Protection of the Consumer – An agency created to protect consumers following the financial crisis 2007-8.

CFPB employees at the Office’s Washington office, they have been told to work from home for at least a week, according to an email seen by BBC News.

However, Trump’s opponents have presented legal challenges to try to stop some of the changes and several of the president’s executive orders.

On Saturday, a federal judge prevented Doge from accessing the personal financial data of millions of Americans held in the records of the Treasury Department.

The American district judge Paul Engelmayer ordered Musk and his team to immediately destroy any copy of the records.

The Trump administration has not responded to requests on Doge activities, financing or the number of people used.

The courts have also arrested Trump’s order from Final birth citizenshipA plan for Pon a thousand of Usaid staff on license and a Big purchase offer to federal employees.

The Republicans, including vice president JD Vance, criticized Engelmayer’s ruling. Vance claimed that the court order was illegal and wrote in X: “The judges cannot control the legitimate power of the Executive.”

Alina Habba, a Trump assistant, told Fox News on the early Sunday that there would be “repercussions for people” trying to “enter Trump’s path.”

Meanwhile, the Democrats increased their criticisms to Musk and Trump, but with the Republicans in White House and Congress, they have little influence outside the legal actions.

“Our courts are working as they should,” said Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar to CBS’s face to the nation. “What does not work is the way the executive branch is behaving.”

Democratic senator Chris Murphy says that Musk “can win from the closure of USAID.”

“It makes the United States much less safe worldwide, but helps China,” Murphy told ABC News. “Elon Musk has many important commercial interests at stake within Beijing.”

Murphy described the actions of the Trump administration “The most serious constitutional crisis” from the Watergate scandal.

“The president is trying to confiscate the control of power and for corrupt purposes,” he said.

Trump’s interview restarted a tradition that dates from about 20 years. The presidential interview has been absent from the Pre-game of the Super Bowl during the last two editions after former President Joe Biden refused twice to appear.

President Trump himself refused to talk to NBC in 2018. This year he becomes the first president of the United States to see the game in person.

Fox News presenter, Baier, asked Trump about the differences between his second presidency and assume the position for the first time in 2017.

“I had a tremendous opposition (last time), but I didn’t know people and didn’t have the kind of support I needed,” Trump said. “He was a person from New York, not a person (Washington) DC.”

In response to a question about Canada, Trump said that US commercial deficits would justify annexation.

“I think Canada would be much better to be a state 51, because we lose $ 200 billion a year with Canada. And I will not let that happen. It’s too much,” he said. “Now, if they are a state 51, I don’t mind doing it.”

Administration officials have said previously that the $ 200 billion figure includes both defense spending and the United States trade deficit.

When asked if Canada and Mexico had satisfied the demands that led to tariff threats, Trump replied: “No, it is not good enough. Something has to happen, it is not sustainable.”

The president also praised both Super Bowl teams and finally chose Kansas City to win the championship.