Elon Musk claims he can cut $2 trillion from US budget at Donald Trump rally

Elon Musk has claimed that he can eliminate at least $2 trillion from the federal budget, laying out his vision for substantial government spending cuts if Donald Trump wins the US elections this year.

“Your money is being wasted,” Musk said on Sunday at a rally for Trump in New York’s Madison Square Garden. “We’re going to get the government off your back and out of your pocketbook.”

Trump has said he would ask Musk, the world’s richest person and a major donor to the Republican nominee’s campaign, to head up an effort to cut government spending, nicknamed the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a reference to a cryptocurrency Musk has embraced.

Critics, as per a Bloomberg report, have said this position would represent a conflict of interest for Musk. The companies he runs, including Tesla Inc. and SpaceX, have billions of dollars worth of federal contracts and have benefited from federal spending, including electric vehicle tax credits and infrastructure investments.

The $2 trillion target represents nearly a third of existing spending. The federal government spent $6.75 trillion in fiscal year 2024, according to the Treasury Department.

Cantor Fitzgerald LP’s Howard Lutnick asked Musk on stage how much he could “rip out of” the budget under President Joe Biden and Trump’s rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. Musk responded, “Well, I think we can do at least $2 trillion, yeah.”

Trump on the campaign trail has talked about reducing the federal debt, but has not detailed specific programs he would curb. Instead, the Republican nominee has promised a long list of tax cuts aimed at key groups of voters, reductions that economists have warned would balloon the deficit.

Musk has spent at least $132 million to elect Trump and other Republicans in 2024, federal filings show. That level of giving has vaulted him into the upper echelon of political donors, making Musk one of the most prolific contributors of the entire 2024 cycle, says the Bloomberg report.

The donations illustrate Musk's efforts to broaden his political influence, despite his personal discomfort with government regulations, by connecting with a potential future president and congressional members.

Musk is taking on an extraordinary role as a political donor in the 2024 campaign. Beyond his financial contributions, he has shared the stage with Trump and organized his own campaign events independently of the former president.