Elon Musk and Donald Trump Interview of Hannity!!!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Elon Musk and Donald Trump Interview on Hannity

Episode Title: Elon Musk and Donald Trump Interview of Hannity
Host/Author: Astronaut Man
Release Date: February 20, 2025

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In this engaging episode of "Elon Musk Thinking," host Astronaut Man presents a compelling conversation featuring Elon Musk, former President Donald Trump, and Sean Hannity. The episode delves into a range of topics, from Musk's relationship with Trump to government efficiency and fiscal responsibility. Below is a detailed summary of the key discussions, insights, and conclusions drawn during the interview.

1. Introduction and Praise for Elon Musk

The episode opens with former President Donald Trump lauding Elon Musk's character and intellect.

• Donald Trump [00:00]: "This guy's somebody that really cares for the country, and I saw that very early on. He's a very different kind of a character."

Trump emphasizes Musk's brilliance and good nature, setting a positive tone for the conversation.

2. Elon Musk's Support for President Trump

Sean Hannity initiates a discussion about Musk's allegiance to Trump, navigating through apparent skepticism and Musk's clarifications.

• Sean Hannity [00:43]: "If you read and believe the media, he become one of your best friends. He's working for free for you."
• Elon Musk [00:48]: "I just want to be clear about that."
• Donald Trump [01:02]: "You know, the president has been so unfairly attacked in the media. It's truly outrageous."

Elon Musk expresses his unwavering support for Trump, stating, "I think President Trump is a good man, and he's... nice the way he said that." ([00:54])

3. Executive Orders and Government Efficiency

The conversation shifts to the effectiveness of executive orders under Trump's administration versus previous ones.

• Donald Trump [01:55]: Discusses the inefficiency of previous administrations in implementing executive orders and praises his own approach to ensuring swift action.
• Sean Hannity [03:43]: Raises concerns about the impact of cutting back on electric vehicle subsidies, potentially affecting Musk's businesses.

Musk and Trump highlight the importance of competence and caring in leadership, with Musk stating, "If you add more competence and caring, you get a better deal for the American people." ([09:17])

4. Government Waste, Fraud, and the National Deficit

A significant portion of the interview addresses the rampant waste and exorbitant deficit plaguing the country.

• Sean Hannity [12:21]: Criticizes the previous administration for lies regarding border security and healthcare.
• Elon Musk [14:28]: Compares the national deficit to personal bankruptcy, emphasizing the urgency to curb the $2 trillion annual deficit.
• Donald Trump [14:45]: Confidently asserts that the investigation will uncover $1 trillion in waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption, despite current findings being at 1%.

Musk underscores the dire financial state, stating, "A country is no different from an individual in that if an individual overspends, an individual can go bankrupt and so can a country." ([14:28])

5. Elon Musk's Business Ventures and Political Interactions

The dialogue touches upon Musk's business endeavors, particularly DOGE, and his interactions with political figures.

• Sean Hannity [04:29]: Questions whether DOGE employees are compensated adequately, to which Musk responds, "Some people are federal employees, some they're helping. But it's fair to say that the software engineers at DOGE could be earning millions of dollars a year instead of earning a small fraction of that as federal employees." ([04:29])

The discussion also covers Musk's commitment to humanitarian efforts and space rescue missions, revealing his proactive stance on aiding in crises.

• Elon Musk [05:03]: "At the president's request, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts, which was postponed kind of to a ridiculous degree." ([05:03])

6. Public Perception and Political Polarization

Musk elaborates on the challenges of public perception amidst political polarization, particularly concerning his support for Trump.

• Elon Musk [07:03]: "I used to be adored by the left, you know."
• Sean Hannity [07:04]: Comments on the diminishing support, to which Musk reflects on the increasing irrationality in public discourse.

Musk shares experiences of hostility at social events, highlighting the deepening divides within society.

• Elon Musk [07:17]: Describes being met with "dirty looks" after endorsing Trump, emphasizing the personal toll of political affiliations.
• Sean Hannity [07:47]: Acknowledges the challenges Musk faces due to his association with Trump.

7. Closing Remarks and Future Endeavors

The interview concludes with Musk reaffirming his commitment to being useful and contributing positively to society, despite the challenges posed by political dynamics.

• Elon Musk [16:35]: "And honestly, I'm getting sort of a daily proctology exam here. You know, it's not like I'll be getting away from something in the dead of night."
• Sean Hannity [16:48]: Lightens the mood by suggesting getting a dog for companionship, to which Musk humorously responds about his own dog.

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Conclusion

This episode offers a rare glimpse into the perspectives of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and Sean Hannity as they navigate complex topics such as leadership, government efficiency, fiscal responsibility, and political polarization. Musk's unwavering support for Trump, combined with his insights into combating government waste and his experiences with public perception, provide listeners with a multifaceted understanding of the interplay between technology, politics, and societal challenges.

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Notable Quotes:

• Donald Trump [00:00]: "This guy's somebody that really cares for the country... He's a very different kind of a character."
• Elon Musk [09:17]: "If you add more competence and caring, you get a better deal for the American people."
• Elon Musk [14:28]: "A country is no different from an individual in that if an individual overspends, an individual can go bankrupt and so can a country."

Note: All timestamps are in MM:SS format based on the provided transcript.

Transcript

[Donald Trump]

I know every businessman. I know the good ones, the bad ones, the smart ones, the lucky ones. I know this guy's a very. He's a brilliant guy. He's a great guy. He's got tremendous imagination and scientific imagination far beyond. You know, you keep talking about a technologist and all, but you're much more than a technologist. You are that. But he's also a good person. He's a very good person, and he wants to see the country do well. And I know a lot of great business people, really great business people, but, you know, they're not really, in some cases, very good people. And I know people that would try and take advantage of the situation. This guy's somebody that really cares for the country, and I saw that very early on. I saw it really a long time ago when I got to know him. He's a very different kind of a character.

[Sean Hannity]

If you read and believe the media, he become one of your best friends. He's working for free for you. Well, I love the president.

[Elon Musk]

I just want to be clear about that.

[Sean Hannity]

You don't care about that. I know.

[Elon Musk]

I love the.

[Sean Hannity]

You love the president.

[Elon Musk]

I think President Trump is a good man, and he's. You know, it's nice the way he said that.

[Donald Trump]

You know, there's something nice about it, really is.

[Elon Musk]

You know, because, I mean, the president has been so unfairly attacked in the media. It's truly outrageous. And I've, at this point, spent a lot of time with the president, and not once have I seen him do something that was mean or cruel or wrong. Not once.

[Sean Hannity]

You know, I've known him for 30 years.

[Elon Musk]

Yeah.

[Sean Hannity]

And I've never seen anybody take as much as he's taken.

[Elon Musk]

Yeah.

[Sean Hannity]

And we've discussed this, and I'm like, how do you deal with it?

[Donald Trump]

Did I have a choice?

[Sean Hannity]

Well, you would say that to me. I'm like, what am I. What am I gonna do? Worry about it and, you know. And then culminating in two assassination attempts which resulted in your endorsement.

[Elon Musk]

Well, I was gonna do it anyway, but that was.

[Sean Hannity]

That was a ceptating event.

[Elon Musk]

Yes.

[Donald Trump]

That's been. Yeah, a little bit.

[Elon Musk]

Yeah.

[Sean Hannity]

The day of the assassination.

[Donald Trump]

I didn't know that.

[Elon Musk]

Yeah. I just sped it up. But I was going to do it anyway.

[Donald Trump]

I wanted somebody really smart to work with me in terms of the country. A very important aspect, because, I mean, he doesn't talk about it. He's actually a very good businessman. And when he talks about the executive orders, and this is probably true for all presidents, you write an executive order, and you think it's done, you send it out. It doesn't get done. It doesn't get implemented. They don't implement it. They maybe they're from the last administration and they are. In some cases, you try and get them out as fast as you can. But agency, it was, when are you doing it? Get it done. Get it done. And some guy that maybe didn't want to do it, all of a sudden he's signing, he just doesn't want to be bothered.

[Sean Hannity]

Do a lot of those executive orders have to be codified into law? Do you need the Republican Congress?

[Donald Trump]

And they will. A lot of them will be. Look, in the meantime, we have four years. The beauty is we have four years. That's why I like doing it right at the beginning, because an executive order is great. I mean, the one problem is both good and bad. Because when they did all these executive orders, I've canceled most of them. They were terrible. I mean, we're going to go radical left, communists, okay? It was crazy. Their executive orders were so bad, if they ever got them codified, you'd never be able to break them. So the damage that Biden has done to this country, and it's not even Biden, it's the people that circled him in the Oval Office. Okay? But the damage they did to this country in terms of, let's say, open borders, you know, there's so many things. But open borders where millions of people poured into our country and hundreds of thousands of those people are criminals, they're murderers, they're drug dealers, they're gang members, they're people from prisons from all over the world. And we have a great guy, Tom Holman, and he is doing so incredibly. You saw the numbers. They're down like 96%, 95%. He is a phenomenal guy.

[Sean Hannity]

And that just then raises a question. You're the richest man in the world. You may not like that part. You're pretty competitive, but that's why. But he's on your team. Well, that's true. He can't top that.

[Donald Trump]

You know, I wanted to find somebody smarter than him. I searched all over. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't.

[Sean Hannity]

You really tried hard.

[Donald Trump]

I couldn't find anyone smarter.

[Elon Musk]

Right.

[Donald Trump]

So we had it. We had it for the country.

[Sean Hannity]

But this is the thing.

[Donald Trump]

Settled. And we settled on this.

[Elon Musk]

Well, thanks for having me. So I'm just trying to be useful.

[Sean Hannity]

This is the interesting. This is where we are as a society. And I hate to do this to you, but I'm going to do it anyway. You're doing all of these things. Nobody at DOGE gets paid a penny, correct?

[Elon Musk]

Well, actually, some people are federal employees, some they're helping. But it's fair to say that the software engineers at DOGE could be earning millions of dollars a year instead of earning a small fraction of that as federal employees.

[Sean Hannity]

Okay. So just.

[Donald Trump]

And they're very committed people.

[Sean Hannity]

So you're. You're committed to helping the blind see people with spinal cord injuries recover?

[Elon Musk]

Yes.

[Sean Hannity]

You're committed to getting to Mars. You're committed to rescue. You're going to help rescue next month, two astronauts that I think were men. And they. They dispute that in an interview.

[Elon Musk]

At the president's request, we, or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts, which was postponed kind of to a ridiculous degree.

[Donald Trump]

They got left in space.

[Sean Hannity]

They've been there. They were supposed to be there eight days. They're there almost 300.

[Elon Musk]

Biden, they were put. Yes. They were left up there for political reasons, which is not good.

[Sean Hannity]

Okay. It's not good. Now, if I had the weight of the pressure of doing that successfully on my shoulders, I think I'd be, you know. But you, when we spoke before we did this interview, you are very confident. You think this will be a successful mission?

[Elon Musk]

Well, we don't want to be complacent, but we have brought astronauts back from the space station many times before and always with success. So as long as we're not complacent.

[Donald Trump]

When are they. When are you going to launch?

[Elon Musk]

I think it's about four weeks to bring them back.

[Sean Hannity]

About four weeks?

[Elon Musk]

Yeah. And we're being extremely cautious.

[Donald Trump]

You now have the go ahead?

[Sean Hannity]

Yeah.

[Elon Musk]

Yes. Well, thanks to you, they didn't have.

[Donald Trump]

The go ahead with Biden. He was going to leave him in space. I think he was going to leave him in space.

[Sean Hannity]

Well, it's like we were growing up lost in space.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah. He didn't want the publicity. Can you believe it?

[Sean Hannity]

Unbelievable. And so I want to echo something that the president said and then ask an overarching question. So people get hit with Hurricane Helene, they have no communication with the outside world. You come to the rescue. You donated that. I believe he donated to the people.

[Donald Trump]

He saved a lot of lives in North Carolina. He saved a lot of lives.

[Sean Hannity]

And California, after the wildfire.

[Donald Trump]

California. But I mean, in North Carolina, where they were really in trouble, they had no communication. People were dying. They were dying of starvation. He saved a lot of lives in North Carolina.

[Sean Hannity]

Okay. Now you're going to rescue Astronauts. And now, again, you do all of this. I would think liberals would love the fact that you have the biggest electric vehicle company in the world.

[Elon Musk]

Yeah, I mean, I used to be adored by the left, you know.

[Sean Hannity]

Not anymore.

[Elon Musk]

Less.

[Sean Hannity]

So these things killed that, huh?

[Elon Musk]

I mean, less.

[Donald Trump]

I really didn't.

[Elon Musk]

Well, I mean, this whole sort of, like, you know, they call it, like, Trump derangement syndrome. And I don't. You know, you don't realize how real this is until, like, it's. You can't reason with people. So, like, I was at a friend's birthday party in la, just a birthday dinner, and it was like, a nice, quiet dinner, and everyone was behaving normally. And then I happened to mention, this is before the election, like a month or two before I have to mention the President's name. And it was like they got shot with a dart in the jugular that contained, like, methamphetamine and rabies. Okay. And, like, what is wrong, guys? Like, you just can't have, like, a normal conversation. And it's like, it's like that become completely irrational.

[Sean Hannity]

He has no idea. But if you're friends with him, you pay a price. It's like I walk into a restaurant in New York and it's like half the room gets daggers and they want to.

[Elon Musk]

No, the idaggers level is insane. I mean, there was, like, I had, like, some invitation because. So I got invited to, like, basically a big sort of Dem event that was. But I received the invitation, like, the beginning of last year and then. And I still attended even after I'd endorsed President Trump. And I didn't realize how profoundly that would affect, you know, how I was received. I mean, I walk into the room and I'm getting just the dirty looks from everyone. Like, if looks could kill, I would have been dead several times over.

[Sean Hannity]

But that was not ashes on the floor before Trump. That never happened. Right. You echoed something when I just met you, and it was very similar to what Newt has been saying, that he brought this country to the dance. This is the opportunity to be transformational and to have, I would argue, the most consequential presidency. If we really dig down and do something that had never been done before, and that is get rid of this bureaucracy, and I'm going to get to the specifics. You say the same thing. It's not done yet. And what do you mean by that?

[Elon Musk]

I mean, winning the election is really the opportunity to fix the system. It is not fixing the system itself. So it's the opportunity to fix the system and to restore the power of democracy. And, you know, people like. It's funny how often when these attacks occur, the. The thing that they're accusing the administration of is what they are guilty of. They're saying that things are being done unconstitutional, but what they are doing is unconstitutional. They are guilty of the crime of which they accuse us. I guess at a high level, I think it's what the President mentioned earlier, which is that in order to save taxpayer money, it comes down to two competence and caring. And when the President was shown the outrageous bill for the new Air Force One and then negotiated it down, if the President had not applied competence and caring, the price would have been 50% higher. Literally 50% higher. The President cared, The President was competent. The price was not 50% higher as a result. And so when you add more competence and caring, you get a better deal for the American people.

[Donald Trump]

But we could take. We were talking about this yesterday. I could take. Give me thousands of bills. Any. I could pick any one of them.

[Elon Musk]

Yes, exactly.

[Donald Trump]

But I could take all thousand. And let's say it's a bill for $5,000. Just 5,000. And it's done by some bureaucrat. And if he would say, I'll give you three. I don't want to pay you five, it's too high. I'll give you three. But they don't do that. If a guy sends in a bill for 5,000, they pay 5,000. They expect to be cut. Everybody expects to be cut. When you send in a bill, you expect to be cut. They send in the bill. For the most part, this is true with lawyers, legal fees. When they send in legal fees, I can cut. I wish I had the time. I would save. So. But I could cut these bills in half. Much better than half. But you offer people a much lower number because, you know, they actually put fat. I'm not even saying it's like a way of business. They put more on because they expect to be negotiated. When you send in a bill to the government, there's nobody to negotiate. Yes, you send in a bill for $10,000 and they send you a check back for $10,000. If you would call them and said, we'll give you five. No, no, no, I need more than five. We'll give you five. I'm not going to pay any more than five. I will make it six. No, I'm not going to make it six. And you'll settle for fifty five hundred dollars. You've just cut the bill almost in half. And it took like two Minutes. But none of that.

[Sean Hannity]

Call out the art.

[Donald Trump]

But that's caring. No, it's not even the art of the deal. It's caring. He uses the word. It's caring. It's a certain competence, but I think it's more caring.

[Elon Musk]

I know if you actually, if you add either ingredient, either competence or caring, you'll get a better outcome. But it stands to reason that if you don't have competency, you don't have caring, you're going to get a terrible deal. And the problem is that the American taxpayers have been getting a terrible deal because look at the last administration. Can you, can anyone, can any reasonable person say the last administration was either competent or caring?

[Sean Hannity]

But they lied to us and said that Joe didn't have a cognitive disorder.

[Elon Musk]

They fully lied.

[Sean Hannity]

They said the borders were closed. They said that the borders were secure. They said that, you know, they said Obamacare would save.

[Elon Musk]

They flat out lied.

[Sean Hannity]

It flat out lied.

[Elon Musk]

It was insane.

[Sean Hannity]

How did you decipher? It will say humanitarian, blah, blah, blah. In Serbia or Afghanistan, we even give money to China, for crying out loud, which I think is nuts.

[Elon Musk]

Or giving money to the Taliban, but.

[Sean Hannity]

Money to the Taliban, like a lot. All right, so like, for what?

[Elon Musk]

I want to see the pictures of.

[Sean Hannity]

What they did, but they tried to obscure it. And then, but then you got to the bottom line, which is what I'm now scrolling on the screen, and that is 20 million on a Sesame street show in Iraq. 56 million to boost tourism in Tunisia and Egypt. 40 million to build schools in Jordan, 11 million to tell the Vietnamese to stop burning trash. 45 million for DEI scholarships in Burma, 520 million for consultant driven ESG investments in Africa. DEI programs in Serbia, the president's favorite. I'm sure you love that taxpayer money was spent on a DEI musical in Ireland or transgender opera in Colombia or transgender comedy.

[Elon Musk]

It sounds like, how can these things be real? But this is actually what was done. It sounds like a comedy sketch or something. I have 20 pages, right? It's not list a mile long.

[Sean Hannity]

If you had to put a number on it. How much do you think you've identified waste, fraud, abuse, corruption at the this point? And again, we've been, we're going to be scrolling this throughout the program.

[Elon Musk]

Well, the overall goal is to try to get a trillion dollars out of the deficit. And if we, if we, if the deficit is not brought under control, America will go bankrupt. This is a very important thing for people to understand. A country is no different from an individual in that if an individual Overspends. An individual can go bankrupt and so can a country. And the massive wastewater and abuse that has been going on, which is leading to a $2 trillion a year deficit. That's what the president was handed on January 20, a $2 trillion deficit. It's insane.

[Sean Hannity]

How much do you believe Elon, you've identified in waste, fraud, abuse, corruption now and how much do you anticipate you will.

[Elon Musk]

Sure. Well, I think 1%.

[Donald Trump]

No, because it's so massive. This is huge money.

[Sean Hannity]

So what we found that was 1%.

[Donald Trump]

We're just going as they are. They're not going to find some contract that was crooked, you know, crooked as hell. I mean, there's going to be so much that isn't that. But what is that? I think he's going to find $1 trillion.

[Elon Musk]

Yeah, I think so.

[Donald Trump]

But I think it's a very small percentage compared to what it is you tasked now.

[Sean Hannity]

And I pray to God this is successful. I really do. I wish you Godspeed, you know. Godspeed, John Glenn.

[Donald Trump]

It's going to be, by the way, I really believe.

[Sean Hannity]

But they're all there.

[Donald Trump]

Well, beside this. This is cutting. We're only talking about cutting. We're also going to make a lot of money. We're going to. We're taking in.

[Sean Hannity]

So what about his business? What if there is Then we won't let contract he would otherwise let him do it.

[Donald Trump]

He's got a conflict. I mean, look, he's in certain areas. I mean I see this morning I didn't know but I said do the right thing. We where they're cutting way back on the electric vehicle subsidies. Yes, they're cutting back. Not only cutting back.

[Sean Hannity]

Hurt you.

[Elon Musk]

Correct.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah.

[Sean Hannity]

Now you don't.

[Donald Trump]

I wouldn't tell you. Well, he's probably not that happy with it, but that would have been one thing. He would have come to me and said, listen, you got to do me a favor. This is crazy. But this was in the tax bill. They're cutting back on the subsidies. I didn't, I wasn't involved in it. I said do what's right and you get. And they're coming up with a tax. But it's just preliminary. But I mean, if he were involved, wouldn't you think he'd probably do that now? Maybe he does better if you cut back on the subsidies. Who knows? Because he figures he does think differently. He thinks he has a better product. And as long as he has a level playing field, he doesn't care what you do. Which is very. He's told me that.

[Elon Musk]

Yeah. I mean, I haven't asked the president for anything, ever.

[Sean Hannity]

And if it comes up, how will you handle it?

[Donald Trump]

Well, he won't be involved.

[Elon Musk]

Yeah. I'll recuse myself if it is.

[Donald Trump]

If there's a conflict, he won't be involved. I mean, I wouldn't want that. And he won't want it.

[Sean Hannity]

Right.

[Elon Musk]

And honestly, I'm getting sort of a daily proctology exam here. You know, it's not like I'll be getting away from something in the dead of night.

[Sean Hannity]

Welcome to dc. If you want a friend, get a dog.

[Elon Musk]

Well, I do have a dog, but I also have friends. My dog loves me. Poor little creature.

[Donald Trump]

You know, the truth was, I need.

[Elon Musk]

To bring him to dc.