President Donald Trump spoke to reporters at Mar-a-Lago this week, addressing several hot-button issues while signing executive actions. As always, Trump did not mince words when discussing government inefficiency, billionaire Elon Musk, and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
During the photo op, Trump took questions from reporters, one of which quickly went viral when a journalist attempted to press him on Musk’s involvement with DOGE. The question, which was framed in a way that appeared to challenge Musk’s role, led to a characteristic response from Trump—one that was both impassioned and focused on what he sees as the real issue: government waste.
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
REPORTER: In a court filing, the White House said that Elon Musk is not a DOGE employee and has no authority to make decisions. Can you clarify for us today (inaudible)?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Elon Musk is. Yeah. Yeah, Elon is, to me, a patriot. So, you know, you could call him an employee, you could call him a consultant, you could call him whatever you want. But he’s a patriot.
I mean, look at the kind of things I just said. So, just in case that question got elsewhere—and I’m surprised it took so long, actually—but you know what? Ukraine is a bigger deal because people are dying by the thousands a week. Thousands.
But look at this. Just look at what DOGE has uncovered. From 1990 to 1999, there were six million, 54,000 people collecting Social Security benefits. Now, that seems high, but maybe it’s possible. But let’s go further.
People who lived to be between 100 and 109 years old—4,734,000 recipients. Think about that. That’s nearly five million people over 100 receiving Social Security. Now, I know people who are in their 90s and doing great, but how many people over 100 are still around, let alone millions?
And now, let’s get even more unbelievable. According to the records, people aged 120 to 129—yes, you heard that right—total 3,472,000. That’s just not possible. The world record for longest living person is 127 years, but somehow, the government has over three million people aged 120 or older receiving checks. Who is cashing those checks? Because it sure isn’t them.
And now, the final number. People from 130 to 139 years old—get this—3,936,000. Nearly four million people supposedly receiving benefits from our government while being well over 130 years old. Now, unless we’ve all missed something, and the world is suddenly full of people who have discovered the fountain of youth, this is fraud, plain and simple. This is what DOGE is looking into. Are these checks still being sent out? And more importantly, who is cashing them?
