Twitter's market value has tanked since it was bought by billionaire Elon Musk, but the market has rewarded the tycoon's other company's thanks to his close relationship with US President Donald Trump
Elon Musk will investigate Pentagon spending at Donald Trump's direction after the Defense Department failed its seventh audit. AFP

Elon Musk is taking on another political feat as President Donald Trump confirmed he directed the DOGE leader to review Pentagon spending.

"Have you directed Elon Musk to review Pentagon spending?" A reporter asked Trump at a briefing Friday.

"Yes, I have... You're going to find a lot. And I've instructed him to go check out education, to check out the Pentagon, which is the military. And, you know, sadly, you'll find some things that are pretty bad. But I don't think proportionately you're going to see anything like we just saw," Trump said.

This comes after the Department of Defense failed its seventh consecutive audit, an alarming trend that has raised concerns over financial accountability.

With a staggering $824 billion budget for 2024, the Pentagon has been struggling to meet the standards required by the CFO Act of 1990, which mandates federal agencies maintain auditable financial statements.

In its latest review, 15 of the Pentagon's 28 reporting entities received disclaimers due to insufficient financial data.

"This result was not a surprise, and I know that on the surface it doesn't sound like we're making progress. However, that is not the case," Michael McCord, the DoD's comptroller and CFO said per CFO.

The Pentagon has until 2028 to secure an unmodified audit opinion, or it risks stricter budgetary controls and congressional scrutiny.

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