Musk: 'Temporary Hardship' Under Trump Spending Plans

Elon Musk is set to lead a "government efficiency commission" if Donald Trump wins the election—and the world's richest man admits that there will be some "temporary hardship" under Trump's plans. Asked about cutting the nation's debt at a telephone town hall Friday, Musk, said "We have to reduce spending to live within our means. And that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity," the New York Times reports.

• He agrees about "severe overreaction in the economy." Musk agreed with an X user on Tuesday who said, "If Trump succeeds in forcing through mass deportations, combined with Elon hacking away at the government, firing people and reducing the deficit—there will be an initial severe overreaction in the economy." The user added: "Markets will tumble. But when the storm passes and everyone realizes we are on sounder footing, there will be a rapid recovery to a healthier, sustainable economy. History could be made in the coming two years." Musk's reply to the post: "Sounds about right."

• $2 trillion cut "virtually impossible to achieve." At Trump's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, Musk promised "at least $2 trillion in cuts" to federal spending. But that level of cuts would be "virtually impossible" to achieve without slashing spending in areas long considered off-limits, including defense spending and Social Security, according to the Washington Post. If Musk's commission cut every dollar of what is considered "discretionary spending," including around $800 billion in defense spending and all funding for some federal agencies, it would add up to around $1.7 trillion in cuts.
• Trump: "Nobody is going to feel it." In an interview with Sean Hannity Tuesday, Trump told the Fox News host that Musk, one of his most prominent supporters, is a "very exceptional guy" and a "great cost-cutter," the New Republic reports. Trump confirmed plans to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget but claimed Musk will "cut costs without anybody even knowing it—nobody's going to notice—nobody is going to feel it."

• Possible Treasury secretary says he'll work with Musk. Billionaire investor John Paulson, believed to be a strong candidate for Treasury secretary if Trump wins, tells the Journal that he would work with Musk to cut spending, focusing on green energy plans. "All of these tax subsidies for solar, for wind, inefficient, uneconomic energy sources," he says. "Eliminate that. That brings down spending." The Journal notes that Trump also pledged to slash federal spending in his first term, but it rose significantly even before the pandemic hit.
• The Economist speaks out. The Economist has endorsed Kamala Harris despite reservations about "her taste for regulation and for further taxing wealth-creation." She "stands for stability" compared to Trump, whose tariff and tax cuts would worsen "inflation, out-of-control deficits and institutional decay," the magazine warns. "America's economy is the envy of the world, but that rests on it being an open market which embraces creative destruction, innovation, and competition," it adds. "Sometimes it seems as if Mr Trump wants to return to the 19th century, using tariffs and tax breaks to reward his friends and punish his enemies, as well as to finance the state and (minimize) trade deficits. Politics could yet wreck the foundations of America's prosperity."

(More Elon Musk stories.)