Trump says Musk won't take part in space decisions

The White House has previously said Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, would excuse himself from any conflicts of interest between his various business interests and efforts to cut costs for the federal government via his Department of Government Efficiency.

The White House said on Monday that Musk's role in the Trump administration was as a White House employee and senior adviser to the president, and he was not an employee of DOGE. The White House also said Musk had no decision-making authority.

DOGE has swept through federal agencies since Trump began his second term as president in January and put Musk in charge of rooting out wasteful spending as part of a dramatic overhaul of government that has included thousands of job cuts.

"Elon is, to me, a patriot. So you know, you could call him an employee, you could call him a consultant," Trump said about Musk on Tuesday. "You could call him whatever you want, but he's a patriot."