Last Updated on 06/09/2024 by Arun jain
In A Live-stream conversations on X Last month, former President Donald J. Along with Trump, Elon Musk floated the idea of a “Government Efficiency Commission.” Such a council can ensure that taxpayers’ money is “well spent,” Mr. Musk said during his more than two-hour talk.
“I would love to,” Mr. Trump replied.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump followed up on Mr. Musk’s suggestion. in A speech at the Economic Club of New YorkMr. Trump said he planned to appoint Mr. Musk, who heads Tesla, SpaceX and X, to head a new government efficiency commission if he is elected president in November.
The commission will audit “the entire federal government” and make “recommendations for drastic reforms,” Mr. Trump said.
The announcement capped weeks of discussions between Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk, who have bonded over a mutual hobby of cutting wasteful spending, three people close to the men said. Mr. Trump has told Mr. Musk that he wants the tech entrepreneur to cut federal government spending, as he did on his social media company X, one of the people said.
Mr. Musk, the world’s richest man, has begun to influence Mr. Trump as the Republican presidential candidate in the November election. The tech mogul opens up what he can get from every connection he has a candidate’s ear to — and creates a potential minefield. Their political friendship is particularly difficult because Mr. Musk owns a wide array of businesses, which could present conflicts of interest if Mr. Trump is elected.
Notably, Mr. Musk’s rocket maker, SpaceX, and his electric automaker, Tesla Billions of dollars in federal contracts and subsidies. Mr. Musk and several of his companies are under investigation by federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, for various violations Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The issue of conflict of interest is one of the more obvious concerns in this appointment, given that SpaceX holds government contracts and Tesla benefits from federal tax credits,” said Ann Skeet, senior director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara. University. “The same thing happens if Musk is in a position of authority in a government agency.”
Mr. Musk, 53, is Wood Right-wing world leaders Before benefiting himself and his companies. In Brazil, he became close to then-President Jair Bolsonaro as he sought benefits for SpaceX. Mr. Musk also enthusiastically supports Javier Milli, the president of Argentina, a country with abundant deposits of the mineral lithium used in Tesla’s car batteries. Mr. Milley has promised to cut government spending and boost mining operations.
Mr. Musk, who endorsed Mr. Trump for the presidency in July, did not respond to a request for comment. Before Mr. Trump’s speech on Thursday, Mr. Musk posted On X: “I look forward to serving America if given the opportunity. No salary, no title, no recognition required.
“Elon Musk has committed himself to America’s future by offering to serve with President Trump to ensure our government operates more efficiently and uses American taxpayer dollars effectively,” Brian Hughes, a senior advisor to the Trump campaign, said in a statement. .” He added that Mr. Trump, 78, “was committed to having Mr. Musk lead this commission to analyze the efficiency of our government.”
Mr. Musk has long used his account on X, where he has about 197 million followers, to push his political views. In recent weeks, he has posted messages excoriating the Biden administration’s policies on government spending and criticizing the campaign promises of Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
Some of his posts have become more irregular. On Sunday, Mr. Musk endorsed a post suggesting that women lack the ability to think critically and should not participate in government or democracy. On Monday, he shared an artificial intelligence-generated image of Ms. Harris dressed as a communist.
Mr. Musk has also posted about cost cutting. It has expressed concern over what it sees as wasteful spending at its businesses, including X, where it has cut back more than it did. 75 percent of the work force In 2022 and 2023. Market valuation of X It has fallen more than 55 percent since Mr. Musk bought the company in 2022, as advertisers have shied away from the platform.
“Government spending is driving America into bankruptcy,” Mr. Musk posted on X on Thursday.
Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump were not always fans of each other. Mr Musk previously said the former president should “ride off into the sunset” and instead endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Mr Trump once used a quip to describe Mr Musk as a liar.
But their political relations were burning A meeting in March in Palm Beach, Fla., as Mr. Trump sought cash for his campaign. At the time, Mr. Musk also told a friend that he wanted to keep his support for Mr. Trump quiet and support him financially, A friend recalled.
Mr. Musk has since dropped that caution. In the spring, he founded a pro-Trump super PAC and The group planned to put as much as $180 million. He also recruited some of his friends, such as tech investor Joe Lonsdale, to put up some of the initial money for the PAC, which planned to organize the field for Mr. Trump.
But the foray has not been easy. Mr. Musk hired a team for the PAC that he met through Texas politics, but Then fired them about two months, In their place with national political activists who worked for Mr. DeSantis. Thousands of field planners were affected by the switch.
Mr. Musk has since a A top Republican political operativeChris Young, to personally advise him on how to become more practical in his political work.
In June, at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting, Mr Musk said he and Mr Trump had been speaking. “I’ve had a few conversations with him, and he calls me out of the blue for no reason,” Mr. Musk said.
After an assassination attempt against Mr. Trump at a rally in Butler, Pa., in July, Mr. Musk decided to speak publicly about his support for the Republican nominee.
“I fully support President Trump and wish him a speedy recovery,” Mr Musk said It was written on X. He later posted a photograph of Mr Trump moments after the assassination attempt and added: “The last time America had this tough candidate was Theodore Roosevelt.”
During his conversation at X last month, Mr. Trump called Mr. Musk “the greatest cutter” and praised him for firing employees who wanted to strike. in Podcast appearance A few weeks later, Mr. Trump called Mr. Musk a “brilliant guy” who could become an adviser to his administration “involved in trimming some fat.”
On Thursday, Mr. Trump gave few details on what the efficiency commission would do, but said that “fraud and improper payments” had cost taxpayers “hundreds of billions of dollars.” He did not say whether Mr. Musk plans to step aside or take time off from his companies for his role, should it be completed.
“As a first order of business, this commission will develop an action plan within six months to completely eliminate fraudulent and improper payments, saving trillions of dollars,” Mr. Trump said without providing any evidence.
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