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President Trump & Musk agree to 'shut down' USAID
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk say they want to 'shut down' USAID. Staffers at the U.S. Agency for International Development were told to stay out of the agency's Washington headquarters on Monday morning.
A controversial cover on the latest issue of Time Magazine puts Elon Musk behind the Resolute Desk used by President Donald Trump.
The cover shows Musk holding a cup of coffee while sitting behind the Oval Office desk in between the American and presidential flags. The backdrop is plain red.
The accompanying magazine article is titled "Inside Elon Musk’s War on Washington."
Why is Time alluding to Musk as president?
Dig deeper:
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, was created to discover and eliminate what the Trump administration has deemed to be wasteful government spending. DOGE’s access to Treasury records, as well as its inspection of various government agencies, has ignited widespread concern among critics over the increasing power of Musk, while supporters have cheered at the idea of reining in bloated government finances.
RELATED: 19 states sue to stop DOGE from accessing Americans’ personal data
"So far, Musk appears accountable to no one but President Trump, who handed his campaign benefactor a sweeping mandate to bring the government in line with his agenda," the accompanying Time Magazine piece said.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on November 19, 2024 in Brownsville, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
What did Trump say about the Time Magazine cover?
What they're saying:
Trump appeared to dismiss the magazine cover when a reporter asked about it Friday.
"Is Time magazine still in business? I didn't even know that," Trump said.
RELATED: DOGE staffer resigns after racist social media posts resurface
"Elon is doing a great job. He's finding tremendous fraud and corruption and waste. You see it with the USAID, but you're going to see it even more so with other agencies and other parts of government. He's got a staff that's fantastic," Trump added. "He's wanted to be able to do this for a long time."
RELATED: Trump executive order blasts Biden's 'anti-Christian government'
The backstory:
Trump’s joke sparked laughter in the Oval Office, but Trump himself was on the cover of Time in December when he was named Time’s Person of the Year. He was on the cover again in January when the cover featured Trump wiping former President Biden’s items off the Resolute Desk with the headline, "He’s Back."
The other side:
A Friday piece from Vanity Fair questions whether Trump is afraid of Musk.
"The president has long operated without anything resembling worry when it comes to appointments or executive action, but as his most powerful—and richest—political ally chainsaws his way through the federal government, some observers wonder if Trump might be tasting his own medicine," the article states.
The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Source: This report includes information from the Associated Press, Time magazine, Vanity Fair and Fox News Digital.