Washington DC - President Donald Trump is now backtracking after his top advisor Elon Musk appeared to suggest that the administration may make cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

On Tuesday, the White House released a statement announcing that the administration "will not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits" as the president has promised "over and over and over again" that he would not.

The statement additionally accused the press of "lying" about Musk's suggestion.

"What kind of a person doesn't support eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending that ultimately costs taxpayers more?" the White House statement added.

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The remarks come after Musk did an interview with Fox News on Monday, where he referred to the programs as "entitlements" that make up most of the government's expenditure and said they would be the "big one to eliminate" if the administration is to reach its lofty goal for spending cuts.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated the administration's position during a briefing later in the day, arguing that Trump has been "unequivocally" clear about his aim to "protect" such programs and insisted the media had "taken Mr. Musk out of context."

Leavitt went on to say that the administration saw a headline from Bloomberg that they were able to get "updated and fixed because it was so wrong."