Elon Musk gets high praise and a shoutout in Trump's joint address: 'He didn't need this'
WASHINGTON ― Elon Musk had a prominent seat at President Donald Trump's joint address Tuesday night to Congress ‒ and was praised effusively by Trump ‒ as the president gave a full-throated defense of the tech billionaire's efforts to gut the federal government.
"DOGE ‒ perhaps you've heard of it," Trump said as he touted the Department of Government Efficiency and singled out Musk.
"Thank you, Elon. You're working very hard," Trump told Musk. "He didn't need this. He didn't need this. We appreciate it," the president added, then gestured to the Democratic side of the chamber: "Everybody here, even this side, appreciates it, I believe. They just don't want to admit that."
Musk has been everywhere during the first seven weeks of Trump's second term. And for Trump's first joint address since his White House return, he watched from the third row of the gallery on the Republican side of the chamber.
Musk saluted Trump with his right hand and nodded his head in response to the president's remarks.
For the special occasion, Musk ditched his "tech support" t-shirt and black MAGA hat that's become his trademark uniform and wore a suit and tie. As he waited for Trump to enter the chambers, he snapped photos with his cellphone and shook hands with others near him.
DOGE, which Musk oversees, has moved rapidly from one federal department to another to dismantle agencies, cut programs and fire federal workers.
Trump listed off what he called "appalling waste" already identified by DOGE, which he hailed as a "group of very intelligent, mostly young people, headed up by Elon."
Yet Musk's presence ‒ and the dismantling of the government he is leading ‒ is becoming a risk politically for Trump.
Fifty percent of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Musk, a new Marist/NPR poll found, compared to 39% who have a positive opinion of him. More Americans, 44%-39%, have an unfavorable than favorable opinion of DOGE. And 55% of Americans said they believe Trump's layoffs of federal workers and cuts to government funding will do more harm than good.
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Rep. Rich Hudson, R-N.C., advised Republican lawmakers during a closed-door meeting near the Capitol Tuesday to stop conducting in-person town halls. His directive came after several GOP members of congress have faced angry crowds critical of DOGE's efforts to cut programs and fire workers.
Trump refers to Musk as 'head' of DOGE despite argument in court
During the address, Trump introduced Musk as the "head" of DOGE, even though the Trump administration has argued in court that Musk is not the leader of DOGE, or even a DOGE employee, but rather a a senior adviser without any decision-making authority. Amy Gleason, a former official at the U.S. Digital Service, was named DOGE administrator last week.
Trump made only brief mention of his administration's mass firings of federal workers, alleging "thousands" of federal workers are refusing to show up to work.
"My administration will reclaim power from this unaccountable bureaucracy, and we will restore true democracy to America again," Trump said. "Any federal bureaucrat who resists this change will be removed from office immediately because we are draining the swamp. It's very simple. And the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over."
Trump also used his speech to push unsubstantiated claims made by DOGE that dead Americans listed as 150 or older could be receiving Social Security payments.
"We're going to find out where that money is going, and it's not going to be pretty," Trump said as he referenced the Social Security database listing the ages of Americans as old as 160 in the system.
However, Trump left out that a 2023 inspector's general report found that almost none of the deceased individuals listed in the database are receiving Social Security payments. And Trump's own Social Security chief, Leland Dudek, last week acknowledged "these individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits."
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.