Washington:

 President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will not let billionaire Elon Musk take part in any space-related government decisions, when the president was asked about Musk’s potential conflicts of interest amid his drive to cut government spending.

“So anything to do with possibly even space, we won’t let Elon partake in that,” Trump told reporters.

The White House has previously said Musk 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 that 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 last month and put Musk in charge of rooting out wasteful spending as part 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.”

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