Fox star Jesse Watters slams Trump and Elon Musk for DOGE's 'callous' cuts after veteran friend loses job

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Looks like Jesse Watters is not happy with his favorite President Donald Trump.

The Fox News host went off on the Trump administration after learning that his buddy — a 20-year military veteran — was about to get the axe in billionaire Elon Musk’s latest cost-cutting spree at the Pentagon.

On Wednesday, February 19, a report dropped that the Pentagon had handed over a list of probationary employees to the Trump administration - essentially marking them for potential layoffs. Watters was not having it, the Daily Mail reported.

Jesse Watters shares a personal anecdote

During 'The Five', Watters decided to get personal and put a face to the layoffs. He shared a story about his friend Chris who had unknowingly found himself on the chopping block.

"Let me tell you a story about Chris," Watters began. "Chris was a guy I met at a shooting event in New Jersey."

That’s when panelist Harold Ford Jr decided to interject, "Was Chris in the interview or another guy? Male or female?"

Watters shot back in jest: "Let me finish."

He went on to describe Chris as a "20-year veteran of the US Military, one of these guys in these elite units [who has] killed a lot of bad guys. Put his life on the line. Now he [has] punched out after 20 years and [has since been] working for the Pentagon. And he's only been there a few months, so his probationary [period], and he just found out he's probably going to get laid off. He's going to get DOGE'd."

Watters revealed that Chris had reached out to him, devastated. "He texted me and said, 'Jesse, this is not good. I'm really sad. I'm upset.' This guy is not a DEI consultant. He is not a climate consultant. This guy is a veteran," he said.

Watters then took a swing at the administration’s priorities, arguing that veterans should be the last ones getting the boot.

"So, when you're talking about DOGE-ing people, veterans should get priority. Because if you're going to go out there and kill enemies, put your life on the line, you should not be in the same category as people that are doing DEI," he fumed.

The conversation got even more heated when Watters turned his attention to Ford Jr, mocking his stance on corporate cost-cutting.

"Harold and his ilk, they like to talk about the slash-and-burn corporate ethos," he jabbed. "We just need to be a bit less callous with the way, Harold, we talk about DOGE-ing people. I want that to sink in."

Ford Jr fired back, "You're arguing with yourself!"

But Watters wasn’t about to let it slide. "No! I am not guilty of that," he insisted. "I finally found one person I knew who got DOGE'd, and it hit me in the heart."

Cutting 'big ticket' items and the 'DOGE Dividend' idea

Jesse Watters laid out what he thought should be cut instead.

"The Pentagon, you have a weapons program in some influential congressman's district, it is showing no promise in the theater of war. You cut that! And that's big savings!" he declared. "So, besides saving my friend, Chris, we want bigger dividend DOGE check rebates. I don't want to pay down the debt, put it back into the economy."

Having said that, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is standing firm. In less than a month, they claim to have saved taxpayers a whopping $55 billion - and Musk apparently wants to show it off.

One of the flashiest ideas floating around is that of a "DOGE Dividend"—a plan to give every American $5,000 from the agency's savings.

Investment firm CEO James Fishback was all for it. "President Trump and @ElonMusk should announce a 'DOGE Dividend'—a tax refund check sent to every taxpayer, funded exclusively with a portion of the total savings delivered by DOGE," he proposed.

Musk actually responded, saying he "will check with the President."

Fishback doubled down: "American taxpayers deserve a 'DOGE Dividend': 20 percent of the money that DOGE saves should be sent back to hard-working Americans as a tax refund check. It was their money in the first place! At $2 trillion in DOGE savings and 78 million tax-paying households, this is a $5,000 refund per household, with the remaining used to pay down the national debt. Elon Musk, let's do this! This is how we rebuild trust in our government."

DOGE’s big savings move

DOGE — also being referred to as the "nerd army" — has been on a mission to slash government spending, and they’ve been ruthless about it.

According to doge.gov, the group has already eliminated $55 billion in waste by cutting grants, firing federal employees, shutting down programs, and implementing regulatory reforms.

The biggest savings have come from agencies like USAID, the Department of Education, the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Agriculture.

Furthermore, they have also canceled millions of dollars in contracts for DEI training and even stopped paying for Politico subscriptions.

The cost-cutting is only ramping up, with the New York Times reporting that the IRS is expected to lay off 6,000 employees this Thursday.

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