Elon Musk said Thursday that he would “delete entire departments” from the United States federal government, as part of President Donald Trump’s push to drastically cut spending and restructure priorities.
Musk gave a comprehensive overview of the Trump administration’s priorities via video call to the World Governments Summit held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He also made numerous references to “thermonuclear war” and possible dangers posed by artificial intelligence.
Musk joked about being the “White House tech support” by referring to his profile on social media platform X.
Musk stated, “I believe we need to delete whole agencies rather than leave many of them behind.” If we do not remove the roots of weeds, it is easy for them to grow back.”
Musk has previously spoken at the summit, but his appearance on Thursday comes after he has taken control of large parts of the government with Trump’s blessings since taking over the Department of Government Efficiency. This includes removing career officials from their positions, gaining access to sensitive databases, and even inviting a constitutional conflict over the limits of the president’s authority.
Musk’s new position gives his words more weight than just being the richest person in the world through his investments with SpaceX and Tesla.
His remarks also presented a more isolationist view of American strength in the Middle East where the U.S. fought wars both in Afghanistan and Iraq after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Musk said that “a lot of attention was paid to USAID for instance,” Musk referred to Trump’s demise of the U.S. Agency for International Development. “There’s the National Endowment for Democracy.” “Okay, so how much has democracy been achieved recently?” I ask.
He also said that Trump’s administration is “less interested” in interfering in the affairs of other nations. Musk told the crowd of UAE sheikhdoms, a nation ruled by autocracy, that the United States can be “a little pushy” in international affairs.
He said, “America should focus on its problems, and not try to change the regimes everywhere.” He also noted the Trump administration’s focus on eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion work at one point, linking it with AI.
Musk stated, “If AI was designed to be DEI (diversity at all costs), it could decide there are too many men in the power and kill them.”
Musk stated that he thought X’s updated AI chatbot Grok 3 would be ready within two weeks. He called it “kind of frightening” at one point. Musk criticized Sam Altman for his management of OpenAI. Musk led a $97.4 Billion takeover bid. Musk compared it to a non-profit whose goal was to save the Amazon rainforest, becoming a lumber company that “cuts down trees.”
Musk announced plans to build a “Dubai Loop”, which would be in line with the work he does at The Boring Company, which digs tunnels for transit in Las Vegas. Musk and the Emirati official who spoke with him did not provide any immediate details about the project.
“It’s going to be like a wormhole,” Musk promised. “You just wormhole from one part of the city — boom — and you’re out in another part of the city.”
