Elon Musk is a Trump win away from serious federal power
Marc Piasecki/Getty Images, Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
- Donald Trump outlined more economic proposals during a speech at the Economic Club of New York.
- They included a plan proposed by Elon Musk to create a government efficiency commission.
- Musk has previously expressed interest in helping with the commission should Trump win the election.
It looks like Elon Musk is helping shape former President Donald Trump's economic platform.
On Thursday, Trump touched on a range of new economic proposals during a speech at the Economic Club of New York, including lowering energy prices and enforcing stricter border policies.
One of Trump's new proposals appears to be taking a page out of Elon Musk's playbook: creating a government efficiency commission that would slash what Trump considers improper government spending and regulation to address the country's inflation.
"At the suggestion of Elon Musk," Trump said during the speech, "I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms."
This idea partly stems from a recent conversation Musk and Trump held on Spaces, a livestream service hosted on X. During the discussion, Musk said that he would "be happy to help out" on a government efficiency commission, to which Trump responded that he would "love it" for that to happen.
Musk also responded to a post on X on Tuesday that said Trump was considering the Tesla CEO for a role in auditing government agencies: "I can't wait. There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go."
Musk's support for cutting government waste comes after he clashed with the government on several issues, including a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into his purchase of Twitter.
It's unclear how big of a role Musk could actually serve should Trump win the election — Trump said on the Shawn Ryan Show last week that Musk likely couldn't serve on the Cabinet given he's "running big businesses and all that."
However, Trump did note during his speech that "Elon, because he's not very busy, has agreed to head that task force," adding that "he'll be a good one to do it."
Still, the idea of tackling government efficiency is something Trump has favored, with The Washington Post recently reporting that Trump's advisors want to bring in corporate leaders to help identify excess spending.
While details of what exactly Trump's commission would look like are minimal, the Post reported that former Trump advisor Steve Moore said it was modeled on former President Ronald Reagan's Grace Commission as a framework. Established in 1982, Reagan established a commission focused on "draining the swamp," or, in other words, eliminating government inefficiency.
The commission released a report in 1984 that found that if the government followed its recommendations, it could save $424 billion in three years, but Congress did not end up adopting many of those recommendations.
Along with the commission, Trump also focused on a range of policies to address inflation and economic issues, including broad tariffs on China and ensuring there are no taxes on Social Security benefits.
"I am promising low taxes, low regulations, low energy costs, low interest rates, secure borders, low, low, low crime and surging incomes for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed," Trump said.
The event deepened Trump's ties to Musk
Musk and Trump have had a rocky relationship, though the tech titan has grown increasingly close to the former president in recent months.
Before the 2016 election, Musk told CNBC that Trump was the wrong fit for the presidency. He later served on economic advisory councils but resigned in protest of then-President Trump's environmental views. By 2020, the pair were growing closer as Trump showed his support for Musk amid the Tesla CEO's fight with California public health officials over COVID-19 policies.
After purchasing Twitter in 2022, Musk signaled that he would welcome Trump back to the platform that paved his way to the presidency but had banned him in the wake of the January 6 Capitol riot. Trump and Musk continued to exchange barbs throughout the remainder of the year, but the Tesla CEO began to assert increasingly conservative views. Just before the 2022 midterm elections, Musk encouraged people to vote for Republicans.
Musk and other Silicon Valley titans initially lined up behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of the 2024 GOP primary campaign. But after DeSantis flamed out, it was clear Trump would once again be the GOP's nominee. Musk, the world's richest man, claimed he would not donate to either candidate. Later it was revealed that he had seeded millions of dollars to help set up a pro-Trump super PAC. Musk endorsed Trump after the former president survived an assassination attempt in July.
Trump has since hinted that Musk could join his potential Cabinet. Musk has also teed off on Vice President Kamala Harris, sharing an AI-generated image that showed her in communist garb.