‘Some things I say will be incorrect’: Musk walks back administration’s Gaza condoms claim

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, standing left, speaks to reporters while holding his son X Æ A-Xii as US President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, February 11, 2025. (Jim Watson / AFP)
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, standing left, speaks to reporters while holding his son X Æ A-Xii as US President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, February 11, 2025. (Jim Watson / AFP)

WASHINGTON — US Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk appears to walk back the Trump administration’s claim that the previous administration allocated $50 million in condoms for Gaza.

While the tech mogul carries his son on his shoulders and stands next to US President Donald Trump, who is signing executive orders in the Oval Office, a reporter points to recent reporting revealing that DOGE’s condom claim mistook the Gaza Strip for a province in Mozambique that received contraceptives from the US Agency for International Development in order to combat AIDS.

“Some of the things I say will be incorrect and should be corrected,” Musk replies. “Nobody is going to bat 1.000. We will make mistakes, but we’ll act quickly to correct any mistakes.”

“I’m not sure we should be sending $50 million dollars worth of condoms anywhere… I’m not sure that’s something Americans would be really excited about. That really is an enormous number of condoms,” he continues.

“If it were to Mozambique instead of Gaza, that’s not as bad, but still… why are we doing that?” Musk asks.

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