Transcript of Donald Trump picks Elon Musk to lead a Department of Government Efficiency | BBC News

Now, let's get more on Donald Trump's top table nominations that we've been hearing about. The President-elect has tapped tech billionaire Elon Musk for a role in his incoming cabinet, overseeing a new Department of Government Efficiency. That's alongside his one-time rival for the Republican presidential nomination, multimillionaire Vivek Ramaswami. Donald Trump said in a statement, The Department will become potentially the Manhattan Project of Our Time, referring to the American program to develop the first atomic bomb. It is unclear exactly what form the new Department will take. Now, Mr. Trump also plans to nominate South Dakota Governor Christie Noem to be his Secretary of Homeland Security, and to nominate TV Presenter and Fox News host, Pete Hegset as Defense Secretary, as well as former Director of National Intelligence, John Rackliff, to be Director of the CIA. Now, to discuss these appointments, I'm joined by North America correspondent David Willis. David, let's start with that Musk-Ramaswami pick from Donald Trump for that incoming Department of Government Efficiency. Tell us more.

Yes, indeed, Steve. He's moving quickly, isn't he, Donald Trump, to unveil the people who will be populating his cabinet when he returns to the White House next year, just a week, of course, after he won that election. He has named, as you mentioned, Elon Musk, who, together with another entrepreneur, Vivek Ramaswami, somebody who competed with Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, they will head this Department of Government Efficiency. It is, in a sense, a reward for Mr. Musk, I think, who became a very staunch supporter of Donald Trump in the latter stages of the Trump campaign, didn't he? Pumping millions of his own money into Mr. Trump's run for office, ultimately successful run for office. Now, together, according to this statement from the Trump transition team, these two men will dismantle bureaucracy, cut wasteful expenditure, and create an entrepreneurial approach to government. Now, government spending in this country is thought to amount to around six and a half trillion dollars a year. It's thought that this effort by Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramiswami, could lead to the loss of quite a few jobs in the federal government, Steve.

Yes, they're complicated by their various business interests. I'm sure that will be a topic of conversation. Let's move on then to Christie Nome. She's been nominated for Homeland Security.

That's right. She is a hardliner, a long-time hardliner as far as immigration policy is concerned. She's the South Dakota governor currently. With the other people who are looking to take on the challenge, a central challenge to the Trump campaign of immigration, people like Stephen Miller, who his appointment hasn't been formally announced yet, but he's widely thought to be Deputy Whitehouse Chief of Staff and somebody who, of course, has been seen as the architect of that controversial policy during the first Trump administration, which separated thousands of migrants from their parents. The man who's been named as the so-called Bordasar Tom Holman. This will represent an extremely conservative, very hard-line group of people devoted to that key Trump strategy of limiting the amount of illegal immigration into this country.