According to financial news on January 9 (Editor Zhao Hao), Elon Musk recently stated that the proposed "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) in the USA is unlikely to reach the preset highest goal of cutting $2 trillion in federal government spending.

On Wednesday (January 8), Musk was interviewed by political strategist Mark Penn, who previously served as an advisor to former USA President Bill Clinton, who briefly achieved a federal budget balance at the end of his term.

In the latest exclusive interview, Penn asked Musk, "Now that you have studied this carefully, do you still think that $2 trillion is a realistic figure?"

Musk responded, "We will strive to achieve $2 trillion; that is the best result." He explained that targets are often set higher, "If we aim to cut $2 trillion, we may achieve results of $1 trillion."

This means that Musk's commitment has seen a significant downgrade. In October of last year, Musk stated at Trump's campaign rally that he could and would drastically cut government spending, "at least cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget."

According to data from the USA Treasury, the USA's spending for the fiscal year 2024 is 6.75 trillion dollars. According to Musk at the time, this corresponds to a reduction in spending of nearly one-third, and many budget experts believe this goal is unrealistic, as the government has only 1.7 trillion dollars in discretionary budget.

In November last year, after Trump's victory, he announced on Social Media that Musk would co-lead the proposed Department of Government Efficiency with Vivek Ramaswamy once he assumed the presidency. However, it should be noted that this department has no official authorization and is expected to only make budget reduction proposals to the White House.

Musk emphasized in an exclusive interview that this is not an admission of failure in advance, he can still help Trump achieve "epic results."

"If we can reduce the budget deficit from 2 trillion dollars to 1 trillion dollars, unleash economic potential, achieve further growth, and let the output of commodities and services keep pace with the growth of MMF, then inflation will not occur. Therefore, this will be an epic outcome."

Payne also asked Musk whether he had determined the reduction targets, to which Musk did not specify any concrete measures, but broadly responded, "It will be a very targeted saving environment."

Some experts claim that in order to cut spending, Musk and Ramaswamy may target "poor people's health insurance" Medicaid. Musk previously warned that cuts in spending could mean "suffering" for some people.

Editor/ping