Trump says he expects Musk to find billions of dollas of fraud and abuse

10/2/2025 6:09

U.S. President Donald

Trump said he expects Elon Musk to find billions of dollars of

fraud and abuse at the Pentagon during an audit that the

billionaire will lead.



"I'm going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to

go check the Department of Education. ... Then I'm going to go,

go to the military. Let's check the military," Trump said in a

Super Bowl interview with Fox News' Brett Baier, an excerpt of

which was aired on Sunday morning.



"We're going to find billions, hundreds of millions of

dollars of fraud and abuse," Trump said of the largest federal

department.



The Pentagon's budget is approaching $1 trillion per year.

In December, then-President Joe Biden signed a bill authorizing

$895 billion in defense spending for the fiscal year ending

Sept. 30.



Musk, who the White House says is a special government

employee, has been tasked by Trump to lead an effort to slash

the size of the U.S. federal workforce. As part of that

initiative, Musk aides have sought access to confidential

information in computer systems at various government agencies.



Critics say the efforts are likely illegal, risk exposing

classified information and in practice are gutting entire

agencies without congressional approval.



National Security Adviser Mike Waltz suggested in a separate

interview on Sunday that the Pentagon's shipbuilding processes

could be an area of particular interest for the Department of

Government Efficiency, and he characterized the Pentagon in

general as full of unnecessary bloat.



"Everything there seems to cost too much, take too long

and deliver too little to the soldiers... We do need business

leaders to go in there and absolutely reform the Pentagon's

acquisition process," Waltz said in an interview on NBC's "Meet

the Press."



"There is plenty to look into in shipbuilding, which is an

absolute mess," Waltz added.



Leaders from across the political spectrum have long

criticized waste and inefficiency at the Pentagon. But Democrats

and civil service unions say Musk' Department of Government

Efficiency lacks the expertise to restructure the Pentagon, and

their efforts risk exposing classified programs.



Musk's companies also hold major contracts with the

Pentagon, which has raised significant conflict of interest

concerns.