Trump: Musk can't stop payments from the U.S. Treasury on his own

U.S. President Donald Trump noted that Musk, the American billionaire who leads the U.S. government's efficiency department, has access to the Treasury Department's system, which allows Musk to monitor federal spending before payments are made, but the world's richest man does not have the power to stop payments without approval.

Trump said Monday that Musk could point to potential problems with federal spending and had found "tremendous waste." But he insisted that Musk could not unilaterally stop payments.

Bloomberg quoted Trump as telling reporters in the Oval Office: "Elon Musk cannot and will not do anything without our approval... If there's anything I don't agree with, I'll let you know soon."

Mr. Trump assigned Mr. Musk to run an office inside the White House called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and he gained access to the system after David Lebryk, the top career official in charge of the Treasury Department's payment system, resigned last week. These systems contain sensitive information about taxpayers, employees, beneficiaries and contractors.

Musk posted on social media over the weekend that "corruption and waste are being eradicated in real time" and that his DOGE team is "rapidly cutting off" improper payments.

Critics have called the position a conflict of interest for Musk because the companies he runs, including Tesla and SpaceX, have federal contracts and benefit from other government programs.

Trump said: "Where we think there's a conflict or a problem, we're not going to let him near. But he has some very good ideas."

The White House said Monday that Musk is a "special government employee." That status allows Musk to work for the federal government, but may allow him to avoid violating conflict-of-interest and financial disclosure rules that apply to formal government employees. A senior White House official said Musk did not receive a government salary and complied with the law. Special government employees serve a maximum term of 130 days, but Trump did not say how long Musk's position would last.