Trump says DOGE will look into the Pentagon spending

President Donald Trump announced Friday that the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, will be reviewing the budgets of the Pentagon and the Department of Education to identify and eliminate wasteful spending.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Trump said the billionaire's cost-cutting initiative, which has already shaken up multiple federal agencies, will now focus on the $842 billion defense budget and the 4,000-person Department of Education. Trump reiterated his long-standing desire to eliminate the Department of Education altogether.

“We’re going to be looking at the Department of Education. We’re even going to be looking at our military,” Trump said. “We’re talking about tremendous amounts of money being spent on things that bear no relationship to anything and have no value.” He added, “We’re talking about trillions of dollars—absolutely wasted, and perhaps illegally, I would say.”

When asked if any part of the government was off-limits for Musk’s review, Trump replied, “Well, we haven’t discussed that much.”

He continued, “Maybe some high intelligence operations—something like that. And I’ll handle those myself if I have to. But everything else is fair game.”

Trump described his approach: “I pick out a target, and I say, ‘Go in.’ There may be areas we won’t touch, but honestly, I think everything’s fertile.”

Less than a month into Trump’s second term, his partnership with Musk has already resulted in significant upheaval. Over the past week, the administration has taken steps to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which has long overseen foreign aid distribution for the U.S.

Trump offered no evidence for his claims but described USAID as “absolutely obscene, dangerous, bad, very costly,” accusing it of investing in “con jobs.”

“There’s nothing of value there unless there’s a kickback scheme going on—which is possible,” Trump said.

He revealed that he had personally instructed Musk to investigate the Pentagon and Department of Education.

“We have very smart people going in,” Trump said. “I’ve told him, ‘Go into education, go into the military, and keep expanding from there.’ They’re finding massive amounts of fraud, abuse, and waste. It’s unbelievable.”