Trump reveals the limit to Elon Musk’s increasing power in his new administration

President Donald Trump said Elon Musk is only acting with his approval and that his administration is keeping the SpaceX founder, who has billions in federal contracts, from interfering in any area where there is a conflict of interest.

The richest man in the world has caused a firestorm in the United States with his leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has shuttered USAID and received access to sensitive payment systems at the Department of the Treasury.

Trump pushed back against concerns and defended Musk.

‘Elon will not do anything without our approval and we will give him the approval where appropriate,’ he said in the Oval Office on Monday. 

‘If there is a conflict, we won’t let him get near it. He has a team of talented people. We are trying to shrink government. Where we think there is a conflict or a problem, we won’t let him go near it,’ he added.

The president noted that Musk ‘has access only to letting people go that he thinks are no good – if we agree with him. He is talented from the standpoint of management and cost and we put him in charge of seeing what he could do with certain groups and certain numbers.’

Musk is serving as a a ‘special government employee,’ DailyMail.com confirmed. 

He has a government email address and office space in the White House complex. 

Musk is not receiving a paycheck so wouldn’t have to file the standard government disclosure forms.

But Trump has given him wide latitude when it comes to cutting back on government spending and the federal workforce. 

DOGE is not a government department but a small team in Trump’s administration. It works out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, across the street from the White House.

Democrats argue Musk is acting without accountability, with no true oversight, and potentially against the law. 

They were particularly concerned when Musk and his team gained access to Treasury’s payment system, which sends out trillions of dollars on behalf of the entire federal government. 

A career civil servant named David Lebryk tried to stop the team, was put on leave and then suddenly retired on Friday.

Elon Musk has been making waves with his DOGE cuts to government

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The Musk team members who have been granted access to the payment system were made Treasury employees, passed government background checks and obtained the necessary security clearances, the New York Times reported. 

Meanwhile, Musk’s companies have nearly $3 billion across 100 different contracts with 17 federal agencies. 

And he’s also tangled with federal regulators and investigators. His companies have been targeted in at least 20 recent investigations or reviews.