US Elections 2024: Tech billionaire Elon Musk has on claimed that he can chop off around $2 trillion from the United States government's federal budget, as per a Bloomberg report.
Speaking at a rally for former US President and Republican nominee Donald Trump, Musk said he envisions “substantial government spending cuts” if Donald Trump wins the presidency this November.
The $2 trillion target represents nearly a third of existing spending, as per the report. The US government spent $6.75 trillion in FY24, according to the Treasury Department.
Addressing the rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, Musk said, “Your money is being wasted. We’re going to get the government off your back and out of your pocket book.”
Responding to Cantor Fitzgerald LP’s Howard Lutnick's question on how much Musk could “rip out of” the Biden administration's budget Musk responded, “Well, I think we can do at least $2 trillion, yeah.”
While Trump has in his campaigns not specified how he plans to reduce federal debt, the issue has been a hot topic of criticism against the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris led government. He has also promised to “end” taxes and instead implement a system of “tariffs”, that economists have all warned could be “disastrous” for the economy.
Notably, Trump has said that if re-elected he would assigned to Musk, the so-called ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ — which would look at ways to cut government spending, Bloomberg reported. Interestingly, it is abbreviated to ‘DOGE’ in reference to the cryptocurrency Musk has often touted on social media.
Critics however have noted that the billionaire — in fact the world's richest person — could face massive conflict of interest in the government position as his companies Tesla and SpaceX each hold billions worth of federal contracts, it said. Both the automakers and space company have taken advantage of the U government's electric vehicle tax credits and infrastructure investments.
The Bloomberg said that as per federal findings, Musk has spent at least $132 million to elect Trump and other Republicans in 2024, launching himself to the party's “upper echelon”.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)
