Donald Trump had a rather brutal response to the latest criticism he has been facing over the fate of federal employees.
President Donald Trump made it clear ahead of being elected that he would be doing things rather… differently.
Regardless of the feelings towards him, this certainly does appear to be the case, as he took to his own social media platform to address some of his critics.
People have taken issue with the latest move by the president and Elon Musk, as the tech billionaire sent out a mass email to federal employees essentially giving them an ultimatum.
Over the weekend on Saturday (February 22), Musk sent a message to federal staff and demanded they list five tasks they completed in the last week by 11.59pm on Monday – or resign.
Trump doesn’t seem so worried about his critics (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Explaining this move on Twitter, he said he sent the email to ‘see who had a pulse and two working neurons’.
Musk wrote: “This was basically a check to see if the employee had a pulse and was capable of replying to an email.
“Lot of people in for a rude awakening and strong dose of reality. They don’t get it yet, but they will,”
On Truth Social, Trump chose to post an edited SpongeBob SquarePants meme clearly directed at those who were unhappy with the move.
The image showed SpongeBob scratching his head while looking at a notepad as he ticked off things on his to-do-list, seemingly meant to represent the federal workers.
The second panel of the image shows the ‘got done last week’ list and reads: “Cried about Trump. Cried about Elon. Made it into the office for once. Read some emails. Cried about Trump and Elon some more.”
While some people were outraged by the mocking response, others found it quite amusing.
One Twitter user wrote: “Trump is a real one. Never thought I’d say it but I love that orange tomato.”
Trump received a mixed response for his mocking meme (Donald Trump)
Another added: “Funniest dude ever to be in the White House.”
A third wrote: “Trump’s comedic genius is unparalleled and the libs are so triggered. Cry harder commies.”
However, a Trump critic responded to this news by saying: “How inconsiderate and cold hearted is that ? Especially when he’s the biggest crybaby ever.”
Another said: “This is a president? This is presidential? If you think this is funny or cool, you are just a stone cold loser.”
A third added: “What an embarrassment he continues to be.”
Donald Trump has instructed Elon Musk to ‘get more aggressive’ after all federal workers received the same email earlier this week.
In a post on X, Trump wrote: “Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive.
“Remember, we have a country to save but ultimately, to make greater than ever before. MAGA!”
In response, Musk said: “Will do, Mr. President!”
On Saturday (February 22), Musk – who is head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – announced that federal workers had received an email asking them to account for what they had done in the last week – or resign.
Writing on X, he said that workers would ‘shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week’.
“Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” he added.
Trump told Musk to be ‘more aggressive’ (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The government‘s HR agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed the email was legitimate in a statement to CBS.
“As part of the Trump administration’s commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce, OPM is asking employees to provide a brief summary of what they did last week by the end of Monday, CC’ing their manager,” it said.
“Agencies will determine any next steps.”
According to the BBC, employees were asked to list their accomplishments in five bullet points.
In response, Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees said: “Once again, Elon Musk and the Trump Administration have shown their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people.”
A large number of good responses have been received already. These are the people who should be considered for promotion.
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
On Sunday (February 23), Musk said that ‘a large number of responses have been received already’ explaining that ‘these are the people who should be considered for promotion’.
“The reason this matters is that a significant number of people who are supposed to be working for the government are doing so little work that they are not checking their email at all!” He added.
“In some cases, we believe non-existent people or the identities of dead people are being used to collect paychecks. In other words, there is outright fraud.”
Speaking of cuts, Trump told crowds at the Conservative Political Action Conference: “We’re removing all of the unnecessary, incompetent and corrupt bureaucrats from the federal workforce.
“We want to make government smaller, more efficient,” he added. “We want to keep the best people, and we’re not going to keep the worst people.”
While the internet has joked Elon Musk is the ‘real’ president of the United States, Donald Trump has revealed exactly what the tech mogul’s responsibilities are for the federal government.
The pair had a bit of a rocky start to their friendship but grew closer over Trump’s campaign trial in 2024 which has ultimately bagged the billionaire tech aficionado a cosy spot as a special government employee in the Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The department is tasked with cutting government costs, modernizing federal technology, ending fraud and a waste of taxpayer money while improving overall governmental productivity.
For instance, an audit revealed the Air Force spent more than $1,200 replacing 25 reheatable coffee cups, per cup.
Still, Musk’s position has sparked somewhat of a controversy with the internet creating memes depicting Musk as the ‘president’ and Trump the ‘vice president’ as some critics question who is really running the country, claiming they never voted for Musk.
Campaigners argue they didn’t ‘vote’ for Elon Musk as he apparently takes on a key governmental role (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Now, in an exclusive interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News on Tuesday (February 18), the pair talked about their friendship and exactly what Musk does for the federal government.
The Tesla CEO initially said he was just ‘tech support’ for the president, even going so far as to don a black-and-white t-shirt with the phrase emblazoned on, but the 78-year-old president clarified that Musk’s job is to take on the bureaucratic process and ‘get it done’.
As we know, Trump is clearly a big fan of executive orders, having signed dozens in a matter of days into his presidency, but suggested there has been a lag in how they’re adopted – until Musk streamlined the process ‘with his 100 geniuses’.
Musk initially said he was just ‘tech support’ for Donald Trump (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
In actuality, new White House documents reveal Musk, who is working for free in the department, isn’t technically part of it all, merely acquiring the title ‘senior advisor to the president’ which has ‘no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself’, reports AP.
Essentially, he’s not the key-decision-maker at DOGE that Trump made him out to be.
Still, the president also joked in the Fox interview that he picked Musk as his go-to man because he ‘couldn’t find anyone smarter’, going so far as to say the team even tried to find someone more intelligent than the SpaceX founder to no avail.
The pair recently spoke about their friendship (Fox News)
The pally interview also saw the duo compliment each other to the point Hannity said he felt he was ‘interviewing two brothers’.
So far, DOGE has cut billions in contracts to private firms that were awarded by the Education Department and the National Institutes of Health, which sits in harmony with Trump’s vision to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
Musk also said: “I’m a technologist, and I try to make technologies that improve the world.”
“My t-shirt says tech support, because I’m here to provide the president with technology support,” he continued. “And now that may seem like, well, is that a silly thing? But actually it’s a very important thing, because the president will make these executive orders, which are very sensible and good for the country, but then they don’t get implemented.”
Elsewhere, Musk added: “I love the president. I think President Trump is a good man.”
Trump also praised Musk, describing him as a ‘leader’ and a ‘brilliant guy’.
“He’s got tremendous imagination,” Trump continued. “But he’s also a good person. He’s a very good person.”
Elon Musk has revealed why he sent all federal workers an email with an ultimatum over the weekend in a move critics said was ‘silly’.
Musk, who runs the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force that is on a mission to cut government costs, sent federal staff a rather unusual email on Saturday (February 22) with an ultimatum that suggested workers who fail to respond wouldn’t have a job to return to.
Musk’s email demanded federal staffers list five tasks they completed in the last week by 11.59pm on Monday – or resign, which sent the workforce into a panic over the weekend.
Writing on Twitter, he said workers were expected to share ‘what they got done last week’ and failure to respond ‘will be taken as resignation.’
The government‘s HR agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed the email was legitimate in a statement to CBS.
According to the BBC, employees were asked to list their accomplishments in five bullet points and one Pentagon official reportedly told CNN it was ‘the silliest thing I’ve seen in 40 years and completely usurps the chain of command.’
Some key US departments also reportedly instructed staff not to comply with Musk’s demands, but the Tesla founder and SpaceX CEO said on Twitter he had already received a ‘large number of good responses’ as of Sunday (February 23), adding: “These are the people who should be considered for promotion.”
Musk has revealed the real reason why he sent the email on Saturday (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The action came as president Donald Trump ordered Musk, dubbed his ‘First Buddy’, to ‘get more aggressive’ last week.
Now, the billionaire tech mogul has lifted the lid on the real reason why he sent the controversial demanding email.
Musk said on Twitter he sent the command to ‘see who had a pulse and two working neurons.’
He also claimed government workers don’t even check their emails, implying that the task was more about who was checking in and bothered to reply rather than the contents of their response.
Musk wrote: “This was basically a check to see if the employee had a pulse and was capable of replying to an email.
“Lot of people in for a rude awakening and strong dose of reality. They don’t get it yet, but they will,” Musk concluded.
FBI Director Kash Patel told his team not to reply (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Yet, several department leaders advised their staff not to obey the order, with newly appointed FBI boss Kash Patel telling his team to hang fire as well as intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, instructing staff to ignore it.
Patel’s message read: “FBI personnel may have received an email from OMP requesting information,. The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures.”
“For now, please pause any responses,” his email concluded.
Meanwhile, Gabbard said to staff: “Given the inherently sensitive and classified nature of our work, I.C. employees should not respond to the OPM email.”
Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, also advised staff to disregard Musk’s email (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Department of Homeland Security Chief Kristi Noem also told their teams to disregard the email, reports The Daily Mail.
However, Musk said anyone who shares the attitude of the Pentagon insider ‘needs to look for a new job.’
DOGE claims it has spared $55 billion from the budget through cost-cutting initiatives so far, like canceling contracts and leases, selling assets and detecting fraud across governmental departments from education, personnel management and health and human services to agriculture and international development.
As Elon Musk and President Donald Trump attempt to streamline the US Government, all federal employees should expect an email in their inbox which could result in resignation if not responded to.
Musk and Trump have wasted no time in implementing swift changes to the federal government.
The Tesla CEO has been officially granted the title of ‘special government employee’, as well as leading a task force of people at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.
According to Trump, DOGE’s primary objective is ‘dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies’.
And on Saturday (February 22), Musk revealed an ultimatum for federal employees in the form of an email.
Elon Musk has issued a blanket email to all federal employees ordering them to tell him what they have been up to in the last working week (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The instruction in the email is clear, officials must explain what they have done in the last week – and if they don’t manage to respond by 11.59pm ET on Monday, they’ll be essentially be handing in their resignation.
Taking to Twitter yesterday, Musk tweeted: “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
“Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
So, how did the email read then? Well, one person who received the notification posted a picture of it online.
“Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your
manager,” it read. “Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments.
“Deadline is this Monday at 11:59pmEST.”
According to the BBC, the email landed in people’s inboxes following Trump’s appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), with the email’s subject reading: “What did you do last week?”
Responding to this email would take less than 2 minutes for any truly productive person. Why is this in any way controversial?
Meanwhile, emails obtained by CNN also showed they were marked as highly important, with Musk’s mention of resignation as a result of a non response similarly not included.
Given the other drastic changes Trump has enforced on the workplace, this decision hasn’t been received well.
FBI director Kash Patel has advised employees not to immediately respond, saying (via Sky News): “The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses.
“For now, please pause any responses.”
Federal court officials has also urged for non response, adding: “Please be advised that this email did not originate from the judiciary or the administrative office and we suggest that no action be taken.”
Meanwhile, President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), Everett Kelley, called the action ‘cruel and disrespectful’ towards federal employees, adding that the AFGE would ‘challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country’.
