Elon Musk says DOGE likely won’t find $2 trillion in federal budget cuts

Tech billionaire Elon Musk said Wednesday that his budget-saving efforts on behalf of President-elect Donald Trump will most likely not find $2 trillion in savings, going back a goal he set earlier as co-head of a new advisory body, the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE.

Musk told political strategist Mark Penn an interview broadcast on X that the $2 trillion figure was a “best-case result” and that he believed there was only a “good shot” at cutting half of it.

Musk’s lowered estimate is a significant downgrade from his previous view. At a rally for Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York on October 27, Musk said he would be able to cut the federal budget by “at least 2 trillion dollars.”

That number was quickly dismissed as unlikely by budget experts, who said the entire discretionary budget was only $1.7 trillion. Musk hadn’t waved people off the number until Wednesday, and it has been widely quoted in reports about DOGE’s plans.

Musk, along with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, is co-leading the DOGE budget effort, which Trump named in reference to an Internet meme. The advisory panel has no official authority and is expected to make recommendations to the White House after Trump is sworn in for a second term.

Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Musk’s updated estimate.

Experts have said that Musk and Ramaswamy will have to propose cuts to mandatory programs such as Medicaidthe health program for the poor, to achieve significant savings. Musk himself has warned that cuts could mean “difficulty” for some.

Penn, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, noted that Clinton was capable of that balance the federal budget toward the end of his time in the White House, and he asked about Musk’s plans.

“Do you think $2 trillion is a realistic number now that you look into it?” he asked.

“I think we’re going to try for $2 trillion. I think that’s the best outcome,” Musk said. “But I think you have to have some surplus. I think if we try for $2 trillion, we have a good shot at getting 1,” he said, meaning $1 trillion in spending savings.

However, Musk did not concede early defeat, saying he could still help Trump achieve “an epic result.”

“If we can lower the budget deficit from $2 trillion to $1 trillion and free up the economy for further growth, so that the production of goods and services keeps pace with the increase in the money supply, then there will be no inflation. So that, I think, would be an epic result,” he said.

Penn also asked if Musk had “identified any cuts that you’re really looking at that you think will be successful.” Musk didn’t mention any specific cuts, though he generally said it’s a “very target-rich environment to save money.”