Within two weeks of U.S. President Donald Trump taking office for a second time, rumors began circulating that Elon Musk had taken hold of the Department of Treasury's payment system that controls $6 trillion in spending. Dozens of Snopes readers asked about the rumor via email, either sharing the claim or asking whether it was true.

Snopes' findings are based on reports by reputable news media outlets including The New York Times, The Associated Press, Wired and Politico. However, all of these outlets' articles quoted anonymous sources. Two of Musk's X posts suggested he and his team had accessed some of that information. Snopes reporter Anna Rascouët-Paz investigated.

A search of website archives confirmed the small, nine-star American flag icon existed prior to Trump's second administration.

In our article about whether Elon Musk secured access to Treasury payment systems, we noted that dozens of Snopes readers asked us to look into the claim. We always keep an eye on the topics you are interested in, ready to fact-check the rumors you see spreading online and are wondering about. We need your help to keep doing this work. By building our membership, we will be able to continue putting complex claims in the full context they deserve. We appreciate any support you can give.

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