Latest news with #USAID
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Painfully soft and inane questions for Musk's White House swan song
It was billed by the president as a press conference.. But that was accurate only to the extent that there were a few select reporters asking questions in the Oval Office. They were part of the 'pool', a chosen group of journalists on a rota to cover the president's movements each day. The rota used to be drawn up by the White House Correspondents Association on a rotating basis. The administration has changed that. They now compile the pool. And today, as it happens, the media seemed particularly compliant. The questions were soft. Painfully so. Read more: There was one on whether the president had any marital advice for his French counterpart - who appeared to be shoved by his wife the other day. Another was about whether Mr Musk thought it was harder to colonise to Mars or reform government. There were one or two about the pressing issues of the day, like Gaza, but nothing that could be described as probing or doing what we are supposed to be there to do - hold power to account. And Musk, under Trump, has without question wielded immense power over the past few months; unprecedented for an unelected official. He upended the workings of federal government, slashing thousands of jobs. He forced the closure of whole departments like USAID, changing America's global footprint. He did it all with a sense of enjoyment. The literal chainsaw to bureaucracy was memorable. There is little debate in America about the need to cut government bureaucracy or cut the debt. America, more than any country I have lived in, is a place full of bloat and waste. Yet it was Mr Musk's methods which caused so much unease among his many critics. They argued that where a scalpel was definitely needed, Musk instead deployed a sledgehammer. At times, his flamboyant style was a neat distraction from the substance of Trump's sweeping policy changes. But none of that was interrogated in this 'press conference'. Instead, the inane questions went on. Trump was asked if he would pardon Sean 'Diddy' Combs should he be convicted - he didn't say 'no', but there was no follow up to examine why. He was asked if he wished he'd become a judge given that they are blocking so much of his legislation. He laughed. There was a moment when irony appeared to have died altogether. In the same breath as trumpeting his success in cutting government waste - when he has, in fact, achieved a fraction of the $2 trillion savings he promised - Musk congratulated Trump for deploying so much gold around the Oval Office. The presidential office has had an extensive, gaudy gold makeover costing undisclosed sums. One reporter did ask about Musk's alleged drug use. But by attributing the story to the New York Times - who have made the allegations - Musk had an easy out. "Why believe that fake news," he essentially said. Surely the obvious question was "Mr Musk, when was the last time you took ketamine or ecstasy?" It never came. Read more: We did get the answer to one burning question, trivial though it was, given what's going on in the world. But it took 41 minutes for any of the reporters to ask it: Why was Elon Musk sporting a shiner on his right eye? His 4-year-old son, X, whacked him, he said. Maybe young X has some sympathy for the thousands of federal workers - ordinary Americans - who Musk fired at his president's pleasure.
Sky News
3 hours ago
- Business
- Sky News
Painfully soft and inane questions for Musk's White House swan song
It was billed by the president as a press conference.. But that was accurate only to the extent that there were a few select reporters asking questions in the Oval Office. They were part of the 'pool', a chosen group of journalists on a rota to cover the president's movements each day. The rota used to be drawn up by the White House Correspondents Association on a rotating basis. The Trump administration has changed that. They now compile the pool. And today, as it happens, the media seemed particularly compliant. The questions were soft. Painfully so. There was one on whether the president had any marital advice for his French counterpart - who appeared to be shoved by his wife the other day. Another was about whether Mr Musk thought it was harder to colonise to Mars or reform government. There were one or two about the pressing issues of the day, like Gaza, but nothing that could be described as probing or doing what we are supposed to be there to do - hold power to account. And Musk, under Trump, has without question wielded immense power over the past few months; unprecedented for an unelected official. He upended the workings of federal government, slashing thousands of jobs. He forced the closure of whole departments like USAID, changing America's global footprint. He did it all with a sense of enjoyment. The literal chainsaw to bureaucracy was memorable. 0:53 There is little debate in America about the need to cut government bureaucracy or cut the debt. America, more than any country I have lived in, is a place full of bloat and waste. Yet it was Mr Musk's methods which caused so much unease among his many critics. They argued that where a scalpel was definitely needed, Musk instead deployed a sledgehammer. At times, his flamboyant style was a neat distraction from the substance of Trump's sweeping policy changes. But none of that was interrogated in this 'press conference'. Instead, the inane questions went on. Trump was asked if he would pardon Sean 'Diddy' Combs should he be convicted - he didn't say 'no', but there was no follow up to examine why. He was asked if he wished he'd become a judge given that they are blocking so much of his legislation. He laughed. There was a moment when irony appeared to have died altogether. In the same breath as trumpeting his success in cutting government waste - when he has, in fact, achieved a fraction of the $2 trillion savings he promised - Musk congratulated Trump for deploying so much gold around the Oval Office. The presidential office has had an extensive, gaudy gold makeover costing undisclosed sums. One reporter did ask about Musk's alleged drug use. But by attributing the story to the New York Times - who have made the allegations - Musk had an easy out. "Why believe that fake news," he essentially said. Surely the obvious question was "Mr Musk, when was the last time you took ketamine or ecstasy?" It never came. We did get the answer to one burning question, trivial though it was, given what's going on in the world. But it took 41 minutes for any of the reporters to ask it: Why was Elon Musk sporting a shiner on his right eye? 0:42 His 4-year-old son, X, whacked him, he said. Maybe young X has some sympathy for the thousands of federal workers - ordinary Americans - who Musk fired at his president's pleasure.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bono Schools Joe Rogan on ‘Evil' Elon Musk Unleashed on the World
U2 frontman Bono lectured podcaster Joe Rogan about the 'evils' of his buddy Elon Musk during a new podcast episode. It began with Bono, who has a long history of involvement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), citing a study that estimates the number of global deaths caused by Musk's cuts at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at more than 300,000. He explained Friday that food is currently 'rotting' in boats and warehouses because Musk fired the people responsible for distributing it. 'That's not America, is it?' Bono asked Rogan. Bono told Rogan that he 'gets the instinct' to shrink 'big government'—but that doing so has consequences. 'To choose which child to pull off the IVs—it just seems to me like, I don't know if 'evil' is too strong a word, but what we know about pure evil is, it rejoices in the deaths, in the squandering of human life, particularly children,' Bono said as Rogan nodded along. 'It actually rejoices in it, and whether it's incompetence, whether it's unintended consequences, it's not too late.' Bono revealed that he's brought his case on this issue directly to Secretary of State—and acting administration of USAID—Marco Rubio, who is 'convinced people aren't dying' despite all evidence to the contrary. 'I just want to remind Americans of the size of their country, and I'm not talking about the geography,' Bono said, as Rogan chimed in with, 'The impact.' 'The size of the idea, it's just an extraordinary thing,' Bono continued. 'It's an idea big enough to fit the whole world, and when it becomes an island rather than a continent... when it shrinks, America seems to stop being America.' During the conversation, Rogan acknowledged the negative impact of cuts to USAID while still alleging the agency had misspent money. 'So there's a lot of fraud, a lot of money-laundering,' Rogan said, 'But also, we help the world and when you're talking about making wells for people in the Congo to get fresh water, when you're talking about food and medicine to places that don't have access, no way that should have been cut out. And that should have been clear before they make these radical cuts.' Instead, Rogan said Musk should have given the agencies time to 'prepare' and 'build new infrastructure' so that this type of needless suffering could be avoided. 'The ironic thing is, even though Elon Musk has proposed all these things and the DOGE committee has proposed all these things, they've made no cuts in terms of the budget,' Rogan then admitted. 'They've cut nothing.' A Financial Times report earlier this month found that DOGE has fallen far short of its initial goal to cut $2 trillion in federal spending, saving the federal government even less than the $170 billion in savings DOGE has publicly claimed.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Maxwell Frost says Elon Musk leaves a ‘dark legacy' as his time in the WH ends
Billionaire Elon Musk arrives for a meeting with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol on March 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by) Elon Musk's tenure as a special government employee in the White House came to an end Friday, prompting Florida Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost to say that his efforts reveal that a 'corporate slash and burn mentality is not how you run a country.' Musk had been leading the so-called 'Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which, according to its website, last updated on May 26, saved taxpayers an estimated $175 billion. However, one watchdog website tracking the cuts says it was more like $16 billion. But there were significant cuts that have been damaging, including to international medical and food assistance programs. 'The legacy will be a dark legacy,' Frost told a Phoenix reporter on Friday during an interview on WMNF-88.5 FM in Tampa. Among the first and most prominent budget cancellations that came from DOGE was to dissolve the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which has funded the majority of U.S. humanitarian and development assistance worldwide to people. That included stopping funding to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), an HIV prevention program that has operated through USAID since 2003. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that it was 'a lie' to say that anybody around the world has died because of the USAID cuts. However, through a modelling program, a research team at Boston University that studies infectious diseases has estimated that the loss of lives from USAID cuts stands at more than 300,000 worldwide, with more than 200,000 of those being children. 'These USAID cuts are devastating,' Frost said. 'Global health is important to health here. The projections on HIV on how that is going to explode globally … and we could see an epidemic of HIV again in the United States over the coming years because of the way that people travel.' A study published this week by the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported that the Trump administration and DOGE have implemented new phone service restrictions that the Social Security Administration estimates will require people to make nearly 2 million additional trips to understaffed Social Security field offices every year. 'I've been speaking with folks who receive disability from SSI [Supplemental Security Income] who literally [say] the wait times are longer than they've ever been,' Frost said. 'People are dying, waiting for the benefits that they deserve. And so these cuts were not made in good faith.' Musk and other conservatives like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have bemoaned that President Trump's major tax and spending bill that narrowly passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week doesn't codify the spending cuts made by DOGE over the past four months. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson says that Congress will vote to codify those cuts of up to $9 billion in a bill that will soon be introduced in the House. 'People are seeing impacts now, but they'll see impacts years into the future as well,' says Frost. 'I think this bill that Johnson is bringing to codify some of the DOGE cuts in part is meant to placate Elon. It's why the bill is coming up at the exact moment that he is leaving.' While progressives like Frost hailed Musk's departure from Washington, Florida Republicans were celebrating his accomplishments Friday afternoon. 'Under @elonmusk, @DOGE has done a phenomenal job identifying and helping cancel waste, fraud, and abuse from government,' said Southwest Florida Congressman and 2026 gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds on X. 'As we carry out the annual appropriations process this summer, Congress must follow the lead of DOGE and eliminate this egregious spending once and for all.' 'Just like he launched @SpaceX beyond the stars, @elonmusk propelled @DOGE into orbit — leading the charge to cut waste, fraud, and abuse at hypersonic speed,' said Jacksonville U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean on X. 'His vision for transparency and accountability will continue to reshape government spending and push for real fiscal responsibility. The mission isn't slowing down — it's only gaining altitude!' In his announcement reintroducing legislation this week that would require federal agencies and departments to verify the eligibility of individuals 105 years of age or older for federal benefits. Sarasota area U.S. Rep. Greg Steube credited DOGE for bringing attention to the issue. 'No American who has paid into Social Security and Medicare should see their benefits compromised by scam artists or incompetent bureaucrats,' Rep. Steube said in a statement. 'It shouldn't have required DOGE examining the rolls to ensure 12 million Americans listed as 120 years old or more were finally properly recorded as deceased.' (The Associated Press reported earlier this year that Musk's claims that 'tens of millions' of dead people receiving Social Security checks was 'overstated.') As a 'special government employee,' Musk was forced to end his tenure at the White House on Friday because federal law says such employees are appointed to perform temporary duties 'for a period not to exceed 130 days during any period of 365 days.' Frost said that Musk's temporary status as a federal employee was 'misused' and predicted that 'when Democrats take back the House we're going to have to put some guardrails on that designation because it was misused for Elon Musk.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
News18
7 hours ago
- Business
- News18
Trump gives Elon Musk Oval Office sendoff, credits him with 'colossal change'
Last Updated: Washington, May 30 (AP) US President Donald Trump bid farewell to Elon Musk in the Oval Office on Friday, providing a cordial conclusion to a tumultuous tenure for the billionaire entrepreneur. Musk is leaving his position spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and he'll be rededicating himself to running his businesses, including electric automaker Tesla, rocket company SpaceX and social media platform X. Trump credited Musk with 'a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington" and said some of his staff would remain in the administration. Musk, who wore all black, including a T-shirt that said 'The Dogefather", nodded along as the president listed contracts that had been cut under his watch. 'I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job. They're going to continue to be doing an incredible job," Musk said after accepting a ceremonial key from the president. He left a searing mark on the federal bureaucracy, including thousands of employees who were fired or pushed out. Some government functions were eviscerated, such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which provided a lifeline for impoverished people around the world. Boston University researchers estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have already died as a result of the cuts. The State Department responded by saying most of USAID's programmes on HIV, known as PEPFAR, remained operational. However, the statement did not address any of the other cuts while calling on 'other nations to dramatically increase their humanitarian efforts". Despite the upheaval, Musk also fell far short of his goals. After promising to cut USD 1 trillion or even USD 2 trillion in federal spending, he lowered expectations to only USD 150 billion in the current fiscal year. It's unclear whether that target has been hit. The DOGE website tallies USD 175 billion in savings, but its information has been riddled with errors and embellishments. Musk had a bruise next to his right eye in the Oval Office, which he explained by saying he had been 'horsing around" with his young son. 'I said, go ahead punch me in the face," he said. 'And he did." Trump said Musk led the 'most sweeping and consequential government reform effort in generations". He suggested that Musk is 'really not leaving" and 'he's going to be back and forth" to keep tabs on what's happening in the administration. There were signs, however, that attention was already shifting away from Musk, who once appeared omnipresent in Washington. He often stood quietly next to Trump as reporters peppered him with questions about the French president (he's great), Joe Biden's autopen (it's bad) and the potential for pardoning Sean 'Diddy" Combs (he'll look at the facts). When Musk was asked about the impact of tariffs on Tesla — something Musk has expressed concerns about in the past — Trump jumped in to answer. Musk, the world's richest person, recently said he would reduce his political donations. He was Trump's top donor in last year's presidential campaign. Trump appeared eager to end Musk's service on a high note. 'This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way," Trump wrote on social media on Thursday evening. 'Elon is terrific!" As a special government employee, Musk's position was designed to be temporary. However, he speculated about staying 'indefinitely", working part time for the administration, if Trump still wanted his help. Musk has brushed off questions about how DOGE would continue without him, even suggesting it could 'gain momentum" in the future. 'DOGE is a way of life," he told reporters recently. 'Like Buddhism." (AP) ARI First Published:
