In the course of the discussion, the tech mogul, who is also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, raised concerns regarding the credibility and oversight of the SBA loan program. He further revealed that the youngest borrower was merely nine months old, having received a loan of $100,000. “That’s a very precocious baby we’re talking about here,” Musk humorously remarked.
During the meeting, President Trump’s Cabinet outlined the billions of dollars in contracts they claim to have canceled since his administration began. Among these were a $300,000 contract aimed at educating queer and transgender farmers in San Francisco about food justice, and $830 million spent on surveys that could have been compiled by junior high students.
Trump labeled these contracts as “fraud,” leading to their cancellation. Musk and the DOGE are working to prevent the federal government from squandering taxpayer money. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins informed Trump, “We canceled a $300,000 contract focused on food justice for queer and transgender farmers in San Francisco. A similar contract was also canceled in New York, again aimed at educating on food justice and equality for transgender and queer farmers. I’m not entirely sure what that entails, but it seems the previous administration was willing to allocate taxpayer funds for it.”
She added, “We also canceled a $600,000 contract from Louisiana that studied the menstrual cycles of transgender men, as well as another contract from a university in the Midwest that sought to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion within the pest management sector. Once more, these initiatives seem nonsensical.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum informed Trump that “There exists a federal consulting group within the Interior Department that was responsible for managing contracts across various agencies.” He added, “One of these contracts involved conducting surveys, amounting to $830 million for this purpose.”
Burgum elaborated during the Cabinet meeting, “A key question was whether we could review the surveys. When we received them, they turned out to be simple 8.5 by 11 sheets of paper with ten questions that could have easily been created by a junior high student or generated by AI at no cost. This $830 million expenditure was one we halted, as the contract was being finalized after your inauguration, sir.”
Trump responded, “That’s fraud. We have uncovered numerous fraudulent contracts through the efforts of Elon and his team, in collaboration with ours. This issue has been exposed, revealing not just waste and abuse, but significant fraud.”
An X account associated with the White House reported that Burgum announced $830 million in savings achieved by “terminating contracts for unnecessary surveys.”
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin stated, “The EPA has now canceled contracts worth over $22 billion, including $2 billion allocated to an NGO linked to Stacey Abrams, which received only $100 in 2023 before the Biden administration awarded them $2 billion.” He continued, “The director of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund saw his previous employer receive $5 billion. In total, $20 billion was distributed to just eight NGOs.”
Zeldin praised the collaboration with DOGE and Elon Musk, stating, “Their team has been exceptional at the EPA. We could not have achieved this without their support, along with President Trump’s directive to ensure we identify every last dollar saved, whether it’s $50,000, $5 million, or $22 billion. We will not rest until every cent is accounted for. Thank you, Mr. President, for allowing us to serve the American public in this capacity.”
