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Elon Musk says America must stay out of most foreign affairs and “mind its own business”.
US President Donald Trump's de facto right hand man said the largely Arab audience at the World Governments Summit in Dubai would understand where he was coming from, after a series of wars in the Middle East. He was addressing the summit from the US via a video link.
“There are times the United States has been kind of pushy in international affairs, which might resonate with some members of the audience,” he said. “America should mind its own business,” he added, rather than push for “regime change” in other countries.
Doge's slash-and-burn campaign
Mr Musk spoke before a packed audience on the final day of the summit. He was in conversation with Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, who asked about his aggressive efficiency campaign.
Mr Musk said there was strong support for his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) to slash government agencies and red tape. Those efforts could leave tens of thousands out of work.
“The people are very supportive, There are certain elements of the bureaucracy that are not supportive because we are removing them from the government sector to the private sector,” he added. “We're moving people from low-productivity roles in the public sector to higher productivity in the private sector.”
We really have to delete entire agencies – many of them
Elon Musk
Wearing a T-shirt that read “Tech Support”, he said technology would be used to make the public sector more efficient. He said his top priority was “reducing the size of government and making the government much more accountable to the people”.
“We really have here rule of the bureaucracy as opposed to rule of the people – democracy,” he added. “We want to restore the rule of the people.”
There is a need to “delete entire agencies” rather than leave some people behind, he said. “We really have to delete entire agencies – many of them.”
Mr Musk has spoken to the summit twice in the past. But his appearance this time came after weeks of cutting through large swathes of the federal government since taking the helm at Doge.
He has suspended career officials, sacked thousands of USAid staff and sought to get access to sensitive databases, publicly tweeting out what he says are examples of egregious, unnecessary spending.
'Everything is illegal, we want to change that'
Mr Musk said America today was in a position in which “everything is illegal, and nothing is permitted”. He said that “war” normally follows excessive constraints and red tape, and suggested his efficiency drive is needed to satisfy public demand.
Cutting public spending and boosting productivity could double growth in the economy, which was less than 2.5 per cent last year, to roughly the levels recorded in China.
“Maybe the economy can grow at 4 or 5 per cent. The net effect of that would be no inflation from 2026 to 2027.” This could boost the economy by $1 trillion, he suggested.
OpenAI gone 'too far' in quest for profit
Mr Musk was asked about his bid to buy ChatGPT owner OpenAI for nearly $100 billion last week, which the firm rejected – on X, no less. He claimed that Sam Altman's OpenAI has gone “too far” in an alleged quest for profits.
“What they're trying to do now is completely delete the non-profit. And that seems really going too far,” he said. “I provided all of the funding for OpenAI at the beginning. It was meant to be open-source.
“If you fund a non-profit to preserve the ambers in a rainforest, but instead they turn into a lumber company and chop down all the trees for wood … OpenAI is supposed to be not-for-profit. Why does this change need to occur?”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Last 10 winners of African Footballer of the Year
2006: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2007: Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla and Mali)
2008: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo)
2009: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2010: Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan and Cameroon)
2011: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2012: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2013: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2014: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2015: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund and Gabon)
2016: Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City and Algeria)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
South Africa 66 (Tries: De Allende, Nkosi, Reinach (3), Gelant, Steyn, Brits, Willemse; Cons: Jantjies 8)
Canada 7 (Tries: Heaton; Cons: Nelson)
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
More coverage from the Future Forum
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
PSG's line up
GK: Alphonse Areola (youth academy)
Defence - RB: Dani Alves (free transfer); CB: Marquinhos (€31.4 million); CB: Thiago Silva (€42m); LB: Layvin Kurzawa (€23m)
Midfield - Angel di Maria (€47m); Adrien Rabiot (youth academy); Marco Verratti (€12m)
Forwards - Neymar (€222m); Edinson Cavani (€63m); Kylian Mbappe (initial: loan; to buy: €180m)
Total cost: €440.4m (€620.4m if Mbappe makes permanent move)
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20HyveGeo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abdulaziz%20bin%20Redha%2C%20Dr%20Samsurin%20Welch%2C%20Eva%20Morales%20and%20Dr%20Harjit%20Singh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECambridge%20and%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESustainability%20%26amp%3B%20Environment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24200%2C000%20plus%20undisclosed%20grant%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVenture%20capital%20and%20government%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
The five pillars of Islam
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
The five pillars of Islam
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
