Deputy Press Sec. Kelly to Newsmax: State Department 'Target-Rich' for Cuts

Efforts underway for a massive overhaul of the State Department will not only align it with President Donald Trump's vision for the nation, but will save taxpayer money through rooting out duplication and bureaucracy, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said on Newsmax Wednesday.

"This president is working hand in glove with all of our cabinet secretaries and certainly with Secretary [Marco] Rubio on rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government," Kelly told Newsmax's "National Report." "There is truly no more target-rich environment than our entire foreign assistance enterprise."

Rubio unveiled the massive overhaul plans for his department on Tuesday, announcing a project to to reduce staff in the United States by 15% by consolidating more than 100 bureaus worldwide as part of the president's "America first" mandate.

"State is an organization, for example, that has doled out $40 billion a year in foreign assistance with almost no oversight," Kelly told Newsmax, adding that Rubio is "doing an outstanding job to make sure all of our foreign assistance aligns with the goals and foreign policy vision of this country and eliminating many duplicative efforts."

Rubio is in London for peace talks involving the Russia-Ukraine war, and Kelly said Trump has been clear that an agreement must be reached.

"No other president has been more committed to promoting peace, to stopping the killing, and ending this endless war that has been going on for far too long," she said.

Kelly also spoke about reports that Elon Musk is planning to step away from the Department of Government Efficiency, commenting that he and Trump have an "incredible relationship."

As Musk is considered a special government employee, he is under a rule to only be at the White House for 130 days, she added.

"We knew this exit was coming," Kelly said. "He has done incredible work … DOGE will continue its work. They have representatives at all of our federal agencies identifying contracts that are wasteful, that do not align with the president's agenda to make America great again."

Also on Wednesday, Kelly discussed the president's tariffs and noted that he has said there are 150 countries that want to negotiate with him.

"We're having companies like Roche, like Johnson & Johnson, extremely prominent global pharmaceutical companies wanting to come to the United States and manufacture their products here," Kelly said. "I'm sure your viewers remember during COVID, when we had shortages of masks and other supplies because we were overly reliant on supply chains from China? If we have another public health emergency or any emergency related to our national security, that cannot happen again. We need to make sure we are manufacturing our products here."

Finally, Kelly emphasized on Wednesday that Trump remains firmly behind Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has come under fire over allegations about his use of the Signal messaging app.

"Pete Hegseth is doing an outstanding job leading the Department of Defense, making sure that we are fighting for our warfighters, standing up for our brave men and women in uniform, and all the while killing terrorists," said Kelly. "He has overseen these strikes against Houthis, leading an extremely successful operation to eliminate terrorists who want to do harm to our country. The president is extremely supportive of the secretary's work, and he will continue to be so."

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