Elon Musk says ‘getting a lot of death threats’ after firing federal workers, ‘taking a lot of flak’

Elon Musk, billionaire advisor to Donald Trump, reported of receiving numerous death threats and facing significant backlash after firing federal workers.

"I'm taking a lot of flak and getting a lot of death threats, by the way. I can, like, stack them up," Musk said as quoted by The Times. He added, “But if we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt, that’s why it has to be done. And I’m confident at this point ... that we can actually find a trillion dollars in savings. That would be roughly 15% of the $7 trillion budget.”

Since Trump took office, around 100,000 of the nation’s 2.3 million civilian federal workers have either been fired or accepted buyouts.

Trump showed strong support for Musk's cost-cutting efforts by inviting the billionaire to the cabinet meeting, where he was asked to discuss the work of his Department of Government Efficiency, which is overseeing the restructuring.

Earlier on Ferbaury 23, Musk stated that all US federal employees must justify their work or face losing their jobs, following the president's push for more aggressive cuts to government spending. According to a copy of the email provided to AFP, federal workers were asked to submit “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.

According to CNN report, One million federal workers have responded to that email after conflicting guidance from Musk, Trump and various agencies.

The email was something Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary, spoke about in her briefing on Wednesday.

"It's a very simple idea when you think about it: All this administration is asking is for federal workers, who live off the American taxpayers' dime, to send five bullet points of what they have done in the previous week. That's all we are asking for," she said.

The US Office of Personnel Management highlighted Leavitt's email, wherein she said how she had to spare just '2 minutes' to draft the same. Here's what Leavitt wrote in her mail.

The tech billionaire tried to clarify that his email blast requiring federal workers to detail their past week's work was not a performance review, but a "pulse check." However, Trump was quick to interrupt to claim those federal workers who have not replied to the email "are on the bubble" and at risk of getting fired.

Elon Musk says he is fixing US ‘govt computer systems’

While speaking at Trump's first Cabinet meeting, Musk said he was "tech support" and said DOGE was doing lots of work to "fix the government computer systems."

Musk is not a Cabinet member and was not elected to office. However, he said, "President Trump has put together the best Cabinet ever. And I do not give false praise. This is an incredible group of people. I don't think such a talented team has ever been assembled."

(With inputs from agencies)