Musk Doubts Likelihood of $2 Trillion Federal Spending Cut, Optimistic About $1 Trillion

The federal government spent $6.75 trillion in fiscal year 2024, causing a $1.8 trillion deficit.

Elon Musk, chief executive officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, attends a technology conference in Paris on June 16, 2023. Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

Elon Musk, whom President-elect Donald Trump tapped to lead a task force to slash government spending, has downsized an ambitious goal of cutting at least $2 trillion from the federal budget.

In a Jan. 8 conversation broadcast on X, a platform Musk owns, the billionaire tech entrepreneur told political strategist Mark Penn that the $2 trillion figure represents the most optimistic outcome.