Feb. 19 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he put Elon Musk in charge of the Department of Government of Efficiency, which contradicts a court filing stating the billionaire is not an administrator of the agency.
"I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge. Thank you, Elon, for doing that," Trump said in Miami Beach at the FII Priority Summit with global financiers and tech executives.
The SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO was sitting in the front row.
A court filing in the District of Columbia on Monday said Musk is an adviser to the president working within the White House and is "not the DOGE Service Administrator."
On Tuesday, a federal judge denied New Mexico and 13 other states' request for a temporary restraining order against Musk's Department of Government Efficiency and Trump arguing they violated the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers and the Appointments Clause.
Musk is not an employee of DOGE and he "has no greater authority than other senior White House advisers," Joshua Fisher, director of Office of Administration, said. "Like other senior White House advisers, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself. Mr. Musk can only advise the President and communicate the President's directives."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that "Elon Musk is a special government employee here at the White House, working under the direction of President Donald Trump."
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected the request of 14 Democratic state attorneys general that would have immediately blocked Musk and DOGE from firing federal workers and accessing data at seven federal agencies.
An executive order by Trump directs DOGE to implement a "workforce optimization initiative" and drastically reduce staffing in federal agencies, while freezing hiring to only "essential positions."
Musk and his DOGE workers shut down the United States Agency for International Development and have accessed systems in several agencies.
Trump and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, which hosted the event in Miami, holds $925 billion in assets, according to Bloomberg.
"Today is a tremendous honor, to become the first American president to address the Future Investment Initiative Institute," Trump told the audience.
Trump, whose Doral resort will host the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament in April, has called on the oil-rich nation to invest $1 trillion in the United States.
His son-in-law, Jared Kushner -- whose private equity firm does business with the Public Investment Fund -- is scheduled to speak Thursday at the event.
Kushner handled Middle East affairs for Trump in the White House during the first Trump term.
Last year, the Trump Organization announced plans to develop a Trump Tower in Jeddah, a major Saudi city along the Red Sea.
In 2017, four months after becoming president, Trump and Saudi Arabia's Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud signed a series of letters of intent for Saudi Arabia to purchase arms from the United States totaling $110 billion immediately and $350 billion over 10 years.
It was his first trip abroad, and the U.S. delegation of White House staff and some members of his Cabinet, were treated like royalty in a series of welcoming ceremonies.
