Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and key advisor to President-elect Donald Trump, made a surprising confession on Wednesday: His bold $2 trillion spending cut proposal might not be as realistic as he once thought.
In an interview on his website X with Mark Penn, a former Democratic pollster turned marketing exec, Musk admitted that the $2 trillion figure was more of a “hopeful goal” than a hard target. He explained, “We’ll try for $2 trillion. I think that’s the best-case scenario, but realistically, we may need some room for compromise.” Musk added, “If we aim for $2 trillion, we might end up saving a good chunk of that.”
This shift in tone is a big change from Musk’s earlier stance. Back in October, he confidently claimed he could find “at least $2 trillion” to cut from the federal government’s annual budget of more than $6 trillion. But even he knows that slashing $2 trillion in one year is nearly impossible, especially with key programs like Social Security and Medicare—both of which are huge parts of the federal budget—off-limits for cuts under Trump’s plan. On top of that, Republicans in Congress are firm in their stance against reducing military spending. So, the budget’s real flexibility is limited.
Still, Musk has become a bit of a hero for Republicans when it comes to budget ideas. Trump even named him to a non-governmental advisory panel called the Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE)—yes, the name is a playful nod to the popular internet meme about a Shiba Inu dog.
But Musk’s vision of slashing government spending seems tricky when you also consider the Republican plan to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts—something that could cost a whopping $5 trillion over the next decade. Add to that the promise of more tax cuts from Trump, and the math gets even harder.
Despite these challenges, Musk still stands by his claim that cutting government spending is easy. He joked, “There’s so much waste in the government—it’s like being in a room full of targets. You can close your eyes and not miss.”
While Musk didn’t name any specific areas for cuts in his recent interview, Penn praised Musk’s DOGE initiative, saying, “The country is watching this effort closely and they’re hopeful.”
So, while Musk’s $2 trillion target may still feel far off, his vision of budget cuts remains a bold and exciting idea in the eyes of many Republicans. Whether or not it becomes reality is another story.