Elon Musk suggested a government efficiency commission to reign in overspending during a live chat with Donald Trump and volunteered to lead the effort.
The exchange came as the pair discussed inflation, which Musk said is caused by government overspending.
“Inflation is a form of taxation,” he said. “If we can fix government spending, we can improve people’s lives.”
“You would be very good,” Trump said. “Oh, you would love it.”
The wide-ranging conversation was broadcast in audio format on X, Musk’s social media company, on Aug. 12.
It was delayed for about 30 minutes by what Musk said was a dedicated denial of service (DDoS), a cyber attack that floods a system with requests for data to cripple the service for genuine users.
When the conversation finally proceeded, Musk and Trump spoke about issues from the assassination attempt on Trump, to border security, the presidential race, the economy, and America’s standing in the world.
On immigration, Trump said, “I say it very simply, they have to come in legally. They have to be checked.”
Commenting on the election, Trump said, “I beat Biden. He failed in the debate miserably.” The former president went on to call Biden’s exit from the race a coup, saying that he did not want to drop out but was forced to by close advisors.
“We’re going to build an Iron Dome over” the country, Trump said, describing it as one similar to Israel’s anti-missile defense system.
“Some other places have one that nobody even knows about, frankly,” Trump said, apparently indicating that countries other than Israel also have such a system.
“We have to bring energy prices down,” Trump said, speaking of how to spur the economy and fight inflation. “We have to build a lot of energy if we will be competitive with China,” he added about the energy-intensive AI race.
On energy policy, Musk said, “My view is we do, over time, want to move to a sustainable energy economy.” Trump and Musk expressed different opinions on how quickly that transition should occur.
At least 50 million people tuned in to the conversation, which lasted more than two hours.
—Lawrence Wilson
WALZ ‘MISSPOKE’
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “misspoke” in a 2018 video about “weapons of war that I carried in war,” a spokesperson for the Harris–Walz campaign said on Saturday.
The remark came in comments about gun control.
“We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at,” Walz said.
Critics, including Sen. JD Vance, have accused Walz of lying about his military record for political advantage.
Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for the Harris–Walz campaign, said the governor simply misspoke.
“In making the case for why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the governor misspoke,” Hitt said in a written statement.
“He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them,” she said.
Vance, a Marine Corps veteran who was deployed to Iraq as a military journalist, did not accept that characterization of the event.
“It’s not right to misstate or embellish what you’ve done, and I think that’s what he did,” Vance said in an interview recorded on Aug. 11.
Walz served for 24 years in the Army National Guard. He retired in 2005 after becoming a candidate for Congress.
—Lawrence Wilson
WHY BIDEN DROPPED OUT
In his first interview since exiting the presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden explained what led to his decision.
Sitting in the White House Treaty Room with Robert Costa of “CBS Sunday Morning,” Biden said that after multiple Democrat lawmakers called for him to drop out on the heels of his June 27 debate with Donald Trump, he worried about being a “distraction” for down-ballot candidates.
“What happened was a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was gonna hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic you’d be interviewing me about,” Biden said.
Biden said that he initially intended to be a “transition president” only, but the urgency of his administration’s goals and his “obligation to the country” drove him to push forward with a reelection campaign.
Now that he is out of the race, he called Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, “my kind of guy,” and said he would soon campaign across the Keystone State with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“He and I are putting together a campaign tour in Pennsylvania. I’m going to be campaigning in other states as well. I’m going to do whatever Kamala thinks I can do to help the most,” Biden said.
He is expected to make a speech at this year’s Democratic National Convention, which will be held in Chicago from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22.
—Jacob Burg
BOOKMARKS
Former president Donald Trump plans to sue the DOJ for $100 million over its 2022 raid on his home at Mar-a-Lago, which led to him being charged with illegal possession of classified documents. The suit follows U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal of the case on the grounds that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was illegal.
A Hong Kong Court has declined to overturn the convictions of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai and six others after they participated in a pro-democracy protest. Lai has been imprisoned in solitary confinement since 2020 on a separate charge.
UK Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson plans to implement a curriculum that will teach students to recognize fake news and “conspiracy theories” online. The announcement comes amidst a British crackdown on social media posts, including the arrest of a woman for sharing a fake news post related to the stabbing of three girls on July 29.
The U.S. military has deployed a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East as concerns about conflict with Iran continue to grow. The increase in potential firepower comes at the same time that U.S diplomats are urging Iran not to escalate the already-tense situation with Israel and other nations in the region.
A pilot has died after crashing a helicopter on the roof of a Doubletree hotel in Queensland, Australia; two hotel guests were treated for smoke inhalation. Police are investigating the flight, as the helicopter’s owners, Nautilus Aviation, said it had not been authorized for use.
—Stacy Robinson
