Trump: Elon Musk's financial audit will reveal abuses at the Pentagon

2025-02-09 21:43:44 / BOTA ALFA PRESS

United States President Donald Trump said he expects Elon Musk to find billions of dollars in unnecessary spending and abuses at the Pentagon, as part of a financial audit to be led by the American entrepreneur.

"I'm going to tell him soon, maybe in 24 hours, to go and inspect the Department of Education. Then we'll look at the military. Let's go to the military, let's do a financial audit of the military ," Mr. Trump said in an interview with Fox News' Brett Baier, part of which aired Sunday morning.

"We're going to find billions, hundreds of millions of dollars of unnecessary spending and abuse ," Mr. Trump said of the largest federal department.

The Pentagon has a budget of nearly $1 trillion a year. In December, then-President Joe Biden signed a bill authorizing $895 billion in defense spending for the fiscal year ending September 30.

Mr. Musk, who the White House says is a special government employee, has been tasked by Mr. Trump to lead an effort to shrink the United States' federal workforce.

As part of this initiative, Mr. Musk's aides have sought access to confidential information in computer systems at various government agencies.

Critics say the efforts are likely to be against the law, risk exposing classified information and are in effect dismantling entire agencies without congressional approval.

National Security Adviser Mike Waltz suggested in an interview Sunday that the Pentagon's shipbuilding processes could be of particular interest to the Department of Government Efficiency.

"Everything out there seems to cost too much, take too long and there's little delivery to the soldiers. We need business leaders to get in there and reform the Pentagon's purchasing process ," Mr. Waltz said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press."

"There are so many things to look at in the shipbuilding process, it's a total mess," Mr. Waltz added.

Leaders across the political spectrum have long criticized waste and inefficiencies at the Pentagon. But Democrats and civil service unions say the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Mr. Musk, lacks the expertise to restructure the Pentagon and its efforts risk exposing secret programs.

Mr. Musk's companies also have large contracts with the Pentagon, which has raised significant concerns about conflict of interest./ VOA