Trump Considers Musk for ‘Efficiency’ Commission in Possible Second Term

It’s safe to say that Elon Musk has been dealing with some pretty bad headlines lately. Just last month, for example, The Wall Street Journal reported that “the $13 billion that Elon Musk borrowed to buy Twitter turned out to be the worst merger financing deal for banks since the 2008-09 financial crisis.”

Still, the billionaire conspirator’s preferred presidential candidate seems eager to reward him with a position of influence. NBC News reported:

Former President Donald Trump announced Thursday that if re-elected, he plans to adopt billionaire Elon Musk’s plan for a government efficiency commission to cut federal spending, adding that Musk has agreed to head the commission “if he finds the time.” The announcement came as the former president delivered a speech to members of the Economic Club of New York in Midtown Manhattan, where he outlined a seven-pillar economic plan.

“I will establish a commission on government efficiency that will conduct a comprehensive financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and make recommendations for drastic reforms,” said the Republican candidate, noting that the idea for the commission came from Musk.

As part of the same remarks, the former president boasted that the commission would save taxpayers “trillions of dollars” by creating “a roadmap to completely eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months.”

For emphasis, Trump again told his audience: “Trillions. That’s huge.”

At this point, we could go on and on about how Musk has no significant audit experience, which makes him an odd choice for such a “commission.” We could also note that the billionaire has no experience with federal budgeting or appropriations (outside of receiving taxpayer money to help grow one of his businesses).

We might even spend some time asking why Trump, during his four years in the White House, has made no significant effort to identify or address the “fraud and improper payments” that he claims are rampant throughout the federal government. (We’re also somehow supposed to believe that Musk will succeed where the GOP-led congressional budget committees have failed.)

But after reading these comments, I got stuck on the word “trillions.”

The federal government’s budget for the last fiscal year was about $6 trillion. Trump says Musk’s “government efficiency commission” will not only uncover waste that has gone unidentified until now, but his panel will also outline “drastic” reforms.

This raises questions that are worth answering before the election.

How many Americans will suffer from these “drastic” cuts? How exactly will Trump and his crony generate “trillions” in savings without destroying Social Security and Medicare? Can the GOP nominee point to specific programs and/or departments — literally any — that should see cuts?

Or is this just another example — the latest in a series — of a former president seeking to reward a political ally while making absurd promises to voters that he doesn’t even try to keep?