Trump Campaign Manager Insists Musk Won't Cut Social Security: 'He's Not The President'

President Donald Trump's campaign manager Chirs LaCivita rejected the possibility that Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will have a final say on whether social security is cut. His assertion follows comments hinting that possibility during the weeks and reports of tensions between him and Trump's cabinet surface.

LaCivita made the comments on Politico's "Playbook" podcast. He is currently not working in the White House, as he opted for the private sector after the election.

"They're not going to cut Social Security, they're not going to cut Medicare, they're just not. That's just fearmongering," LaCivita said in the interview, before Politico's Dasha Burns noted that Musk had talked about waste in Social Security, suggesting there could be cuts.

"He's not the president. He doesn't get to make those decisions," LaCivita then said.

When Burns asked the former campaign manager why Musk, the richest man in the world and who has nicknamed himself "first buddy," offered those remarks in the interview with CNBC's Larry Kudlow, LaCivita said, "I don't know, I don't speak for him."

Earlier this week Musk described the federal benefit programs as being ridden with fraud, hinting that they may soon be on the chopping block. Then, the billionaire, who is also a senior adviser to Trump, suggested that $500 billion to $700 billion in waste needed to be cut.

"Most of the federal spending is entitlements. So that's the big one to eliminate. That's the sort of half trillion, maybe six, 700 billion," Musk said in the interview. The comments came in response to a question from Kudlow about whether there would be a report on targeting waste, fraud and abuse in federal spending.

Musk's comments contradict top GOP leaders' vows to keep Social Security benefits for Americans. Trump has repeatedly promised not to touch Social Security benefits, while White House Speaker Mike Johnson vowed last month that the GOP will not make cuts to Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security.

"The White House has made a commitment. The president said over and over and over, 'we're not going to touch Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid," We've made the same commitment. Now that said, what we are going to do is go into those programs and carve out the fraud, waste and abuse, and find efficiencies," Johnson told CNN's Kaitlan Collins on "The Source" in February.

The controversy was raised as rumors of tensions between Musk and Trump's Cabinet members and staff ramp up. According to a Vanity Fair report, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy got into a fiery argument with Musk for slashing their agencies' staffs without their approval. Musk shot back that the secretaries lacked the conviction to fire people in a vitriolic exchange that a Trump ally said was historic.

"It was, like, one step short of a fistfight," the ally told Vanity Fair.