During CPAC 2025, which is takin place in Las Vegas, Nevada, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk sounded off on the large amount of taxpayer money that has been spent on legacy media outlets like Reuters and Politico, saying that the government would end such wasteful spending.
As background, the commentary on media spending has been swirling for over a week, with President Donald Trup posting about the matter on February 13 and slamming the Department of Defense for approving a $9 million contract with Reuters, an outlet so large that it rivals the Associated Press, for no clear reason.
In his social media post about the wasteful spending on Reuters, Trump slammed the ridiculous program and demanded that the media outlet return the money, saying, “DOGE: Looks like Radical Left Reuters was paid $9,000,000 by the Department of Defense to study “large scale social deception.” GIVE BACK THE MONEY, NOW!”
In a second post, Trump sounded off on the millions spent by the government on Politico subscriptions, saying, “DOGE: Why was Politico paid Millions of Dollars for NOTHING. Buying the press??? PAY BACK THE MONEY TO THE TAXPAYERS! How much has the Failing New York Times paid? Is this the money that is keeping it open??? THEY ARE BUYING THE PRESS!”
This is a fact even admitted by CBS News, which reported in a “fact-check” that “government agencies collectively spent more than $8 million combined in payments for Politico subscriptions and products in 2024. This includes $24,000 spent by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, on subscriptions.”
Such is about what DOGE head Elon Musk spoke at CPAC when joined on the stage by Newsmax TV host Rob Schmitt. Broaching the subject, Musk sounded off on the wasteful media spending, saying, “A massive amount of your tax dollars is going to legacy media companies.” Responding, Schmitt said, “Yes.”
Continuing, Musk reiterated from where the spending was coming, saying, “And directly from the government.” Schmitt, chiming in, argued that the spending was evidence that the governmental apparatus has wanted to take over the media so that it can push its talking points, saying, “The government wants to take over media.”
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Responding, Musk said that what has been going on is absolutely awful, telling Schmitt, “Yeah. It’s horrible. Yeah.” Schmitt further added that X was important because, though Elon paid perhaps more for it than it was worth, it provides freedom of speech that obviates the government-influenced legacy media. He said, “That’s why we have X. Yeah. And that’s — that’s why you spent $44 billion. I mean, that’s a lot of money. I mean, more than it was probably worth. But there was a message.”
Musk, chiming back in and downplaying the financial cost of X as compared against its vast importance for freedom of speech and the associated liberties that we have long held dear, told him, “Freedom is priceless.” Schmitt agreed, saying the freedom it provides is incredibly important, saying, “Priceless…probably one of the most important investments this country has ever seen.”
Watch them here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video