Elon Musk snaps at Peter Navarro over CNBC tariff comments
Elon Musk hit back at Peter Navarro after President Trump’s trade advisor commented on Tesla during a CNBC interview on tariffs.
WASHINGTON ― Elon Musk said he anticipates the Department of Government Efficiency will produce $150 billion in savings of “waste and fraud” from the federal government in the next fiscal year, appearing to dramatically lower much-loftier projections he previously touted.
Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur who oversees DOGE, provided the update during an April 10 Cabinet meeting convened by President Donald Trump.
“I’m excited to announce that we anticipate savings in FY 26 from reduction of waste and fraud by $150 billion,” Musk, seated at a table with Cabinet secretaries, told Trump. “And I mean, some of it is just absurd ‒ like people getting unemployment insurance who haven’t been born yet.”
The 2026 fiscal year runs from Oct. 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 2026.
While stumping for Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign, Musk talked about cutting $2 trillion from the government. He lowered the goal to $1 trillion after Trump assumed office. And as recently as a March 27 interview on Fox News, Musk said he was on pace to eliminate $1 trillion in federal spending by the end of May.
It was unclear whether Musk misspoke at the Cabinet meeting and intended to highlight DOGE’s projected savings to date. On the group’s website, DOGE currently projects estimated savings of $150 billion identified so far.
The White House did not say when asked whether Musk misspoke. A senior White House official told USA TODAY: “DOGE has already yielded massive results ‒ the $150 billion saved to date, as reported on DOGE’s website, is just the beginning. Every day, DOGE identifies more waste and fraud, adding to that total.”
The official added: “Elon has always said the goal is $1 trillion.”
DOGE’s savings claims, which are posted on a “wall of receipts” on the groups website, have been dubious. In some cases, DOGE has failed to factor in obligated funds the government must still pay even if a contract is canceled. And in other instances, DOGE has tallied the maximum ceiling for a contract even if the entire funding hadn’t been obligated.
Steered by Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, the DOGE team of more than 100 employees has fanned throughout the federal government, eliminating government programs and pushing the termination of federal workers. “As the military would say, it’s a target-rich environment,” Musk said at the Cabinet meeting, drawing laughs from Trump and others.
Musk’s Cabinet meeting appearance came as his future in the Trump administration is in doubt. Musk is working in the White House as a “special government employee,” a designation for federal government employees who work 130 days or less during a calendar year. It would mean Musk’s tenure wraps at the end of May if the White House follows the federal guidelines and his government status isn’t changed.
Musk spoke only for a few minutes at the Cabinet meeting after he dominated a past Cabinet meeting that Trump opened to reporters in late February.
“I don’t need Elon for anything other than I happen to like him, but I’m telling you, this guy did a fantastic job,” Trump said when asked about nearly $400 million in fraudulent insurance payments that DOGE claimed to uncover. “I don’t need his car. I actually bought one,” Trump said, adding, “I paid a lot of money for that car.”
Over the past week, Musk has disagreed publicly with Trump’s tariff policies and referred to top White House trade adviser Peter Navarro as a “moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks.”
The continued presence of the world’s richest man in the White House poses a potential political liability for Trump. Polling has shown the majority of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Musk. And Musk suffered a setback when Democrats won a Wisconsin state Supreme Court race this month that became a referendum on Musk after he pumped $20 million into the race and campaigned in the state.
Under a Day 1 executive order signed by Trump, DOGE is set to terminate after 18 months of operations on July 4, 2026, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
“Hopefully they’ll stay around for the long haul,” Trump said of the DOGE team. “I’d like to keep as many as we can.”
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.