Whatever version of America emerges in four years’ time after the second presidency of Donald Trump, the scenes within the Oval Office in the late afternoon of February 11th will become emblematic.
There is president Trump at the Resolute Desk. Elon Musk stands, to his right, with X, the billionaire’s little boy, resplendent in a caramel winter coat. Through the White House windows a bleak, gorgeous backdrop: snow was falling across Washington.
Having spent his morning with king Abdullah of Jordan and reiterating his intention that the United States will take ownership of Gaza, Trump called Musk away from his travails to explain, at length, what exactly he is trying to achieve with the Department of Government Efficiency.
Since inauguration day, Musk has been seldom seen but has become a point of fixation for Democratic lawmakers and scholars convinced that his swift dismantling of the machinery and personnel of the federal system of governance is nothing less than the methodical, daylight dismantling of democracy itself.
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Only the temporary injunctions delivered by a handful of federal judges stood between the Trump administration and the immediate disintegration of the wheels of government.
[ Around the US, Elon Musk is the name on all lips, on all placardsOpens in new window ]
Cheerful and fidgeting, Musk sought to present the work of Doge as good common sense: a brisk spring cleaning of a stately mansion whose blinds had been shuttered for years.
“At a high level – you say what is the goal of Doge – and I think a significant part of the presidency is to restore democracy,” Musk began as X began to pull at his father’s Maga baseball cap. “And it may seem like: ‘well aren’t we in a democracy?’ – okay X, we’ll have to ... sorry, gravitas can be difficult sometimes.
[ US poll shows Donald Trump at new heights of approval after three weeks in officeOpens in new window ]
“If there is not a good feedback loop from the people to the government and if you have rule of the bureaucrat and the bureaucracy is in charge, then what meaning does democracy actually have? If the people cannot vote and have their will decided by their elected representatives in the form of the president, and the Senate and the House then we don’t live in a democracy. We live in a bureaucracy.
“So, it is incredibly important we fix that feedback loop. That’s not to say ... there are good people who are in the federal bureaucracy. But you can’t have an autonomous federal bureaucracy. You have to have one that is responsive to the people. If you looked at the founders today and said: ‘what do you think of the way things have turned out’ – you have this fourth unelected unconstitutional branch of government which is the bureaucracy which currently has more power than any elected representative.
“And this is not something that people want. And we also have to do something about the deficit. We’ve got a $2 trillion deficit and if we don’t do something about the deficit the country is going bankrupt.”
There are tens of millions, surely, of Americans convinced that if “the founders” got a glimpse of what is happening in the current White House, they would be appalled, fascinated and fearful. But the majority of Americans have, through a series of polls, indicated their broad satisfaction with the dynamism and laser-show blitz of executive orders which have become the literal signature of the Trump presidency.
Trump himself sat mainly silent for the half hour – an eternity for him – while Musk held court in the Oval Office, taking questions from reporters, enjoying the moment.
The president cast a wary glance at young X every so often as the youngster broke into chat, rammed his fingers into his old man’s ears and generally behaved like a four-year-old.
The entire scene was so peculiar in its vividness: a subdued Trump; the richest man in the world in Dad mode and the timeless decor of the Oval office: the Biden administration suddenly seemed like a long, long time ago.
This week’s Time magazine cover depicted Musk, alone, behind the presidential desk against a bright red backdrop. It is possibly the only piece of journalism that has truly stung Trump’s vanity since he took office. And it was impossible to tell if he was enjoying the Musk show.
He nodded as the South African went through the litany of wastefulness and “fraud” he has uncovered, everything from 150-year-old social security recipients – “they should be in the Guinness book of Records. My guess is they are probably dead” – to “a limestone mine” where the paperwork of millions of federal workers is stored.
“The limiting factor is the speed at which the mine shaft elevator can move determines how many people can retire from federal government. And the elevator breaks down sometimes and nobody can retire. Doesn’t it sound crazy?”
Some of it did. Because of his unfathomable wealth and influence, Musk has an oddly engaging way of telling a story. And there are many Democrats who would agree that a more efficient and accountable system of federal government would be a good thing.
But the sudden, gargantuan presence of Musk, an unelected private citizen, towering over this administration has caused deep unease outside Republican circles. Nothing about Tuesday’s performance will have lessened that.
There were no specific evidence or examples of mass, multi-billion-dollar fraud and waste alleged. Asked what he had to say about the accusation that he is busy “orchestrating a hostile takeover of government and in a non -transparent way”, Musk pointed to the election win. “People voted for major government reform and that’s what they are going to get.”
But, of course, they didn’t vote for Musk nor the largely anonymous handpicked team to rifle through federal systems and data. Quizzed about possible conflicts of interests – Musk’s company has won billion-dollar Pentagon contracts – he replied: “All of our actions are fully public. So, if you see anything, it’s not like people are going to be shy about saying it. Transparency builds trust.”
On the same afternoon, Paul Martin, the USAID inspector general, received an email from Trent Morse, the deputy director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, stating that he was fired. Martin’s office just days ago published a widely cited report warning that some $489 million of food aid now risked spoilage after the decision to shut down USAID, freezing both aid and the work force.
Nothing was said about that. Challenged about mistaken examples of USAID wastefulness, Musk was happy to give himself a pass.
“If you add competence and caring you will cut the budget deficit in half. And I fully expect to be scrutinised and ... get a daily proctology exam, basically. It’s not like I think I can get away with something. I will make mistakes. Nobody is going to bat a thousand.”
Tuesday’s charm offensive did little other than to confirm that this is a very weird and unorthodox moment in the story of American democracy and nobody is fully sure where it will lead.
As the moment passed, president Trump invited reporters back to the White House at ten that night to see Marc Fogel, the American teacher freed from Russia after a three-year period of imprisonment for possession of medically prescribed marijuana. The announcement was another good, simple story for the Trump administration that will land with his supporters across the broad swathe of Red States. An American. Home from Russia. Freed by Trump.
On television, the weather presenters were agog at the latest storm to sweep through the country. To some in Washington, the storm began three weeks ago and cannot let up. The trust – and mistrust – is absolute.
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