‘Secretary of Cost-Cutting’: Trump taps Musk for new potential role to slash government waste

Former President Donald Trump stated on Sunday that, should he win the presidential election, he plans to tap Elon Musk for a new potential role to significantly reduce government waste.

During an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” the Republican presidential nominee said he hopes to appoint Musk as his “Secretary of Cost-Cutting.”

‘We will rip the waste out of our $6.5 Trillion budget. Our goal: Balance the Budget of the USA.’

Trump told the news outlet, “He’s a great business guy, and he’s a great cost-cutter.”

According to Trump, Musk told him he could slash government costs “without affecting anybody.”

He noted that Musk does not want to be a part of the Cabinet but does want to help eliminate government waste.

“He is dying to do this,” Trump said of Musk. “We’ll have a new position: Secretary of Cost-Cutting. Elon wants to do that, and we have incredible people. He’s running a big business. He can’t just say, ‘I think I’ll go into the Cabinet.’ Other people can. He can’t, but Elon’s a little bit different in that sense.”

Trump also told Fox News that Musk promised him he would get a rocket to Mars by the end of Trump’s potential second term, stating he hopes Musk pulls it off “long before” China or Russia.

During an August X Spaces discussion, the former president complimented Musk for being “the greatest cutter.” Musk previously stated that he had slashed the staff at Twitter by approximately 80%.

“I look at what you do. You walk in and you just say, ‘You want to quit?’ They go on strike — I won’t mention the name of the company — but they go on strike, and you say, ‘That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. Every one of you is gone,'” Trump told Musk.

Musk explained during the Spaces conversation that government overspending causes inflation.

“Would you agree that we need to take a look at government spending and have, perhaps, a government efficiency commission that just … tries to make the spending sensible and so that the country lives within its means?” he asked Trump.

Musk advocated for a government efficiency commission “that takes a look at these things and just ensures that the taxpayer money — that taxpayers’ hard-earned money — is spent in a good way. And I’d be happy to help out on such a commission.”

On Monday, Trump-Vance transition team co-chair Howard Lutnick posted a photograph on social media of himself and Musk.

“Welcome to DOGE,” Lutnick wrote, an acronym referring to Musk’s proposed “Department of Government Efficiency.” “Doge” is also a cryptocurrency.

“We will rip the waste out of our $6.5 Trillion budget. Our goal: Balance the Budget of the USA. We must elect Donald Trump President,” Lutnick stated.

Musk shared Lutnick’s post, adding, “We gotta win, but, once we do, we can cut the millions of strings that, like Gulliver, hold back the giant that is America!”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!