Former president suggests Musk would be ’very good’ as head of a government efficiency commission.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he participates in an interview with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on the social media platform X, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 12, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. (Margo Martin via X/via REUTERS)
By Jacob Burg, Lawrence Wilson and Janice Hisle
Former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, CEO of the social platform X, held a wide ranging conversation on Aug. 12 on topics including the economy and energy prices, with Trump suggesting tapping Musk as the head of a government efficiency commission at one point.
After more than 30 minutes of delays caused by what Musk said was a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the platform, the two turned to the topic of inflation and government spending. The CEO suggested forming a commission to ensure the “country lives within its means,” adding that he believes federal overspending is the root cause of inflation.
“Would you agree that we need to take a look at government spending and have, perhaps, like a government efficiency commission?” Musk asked Trump.
Trump said Musk “would be very good” as the head of such commission and would love the position. Musk replied that he’d be “happy to help out” if the proposal moved forward.
The former president emphasized the impact of prices on everyday Americans when they visit the grocery store.
“We’ve got to get the prices down,” Trump said.
Musk said he believes inflation is a form of taxation, and that, “If we can fix government spending, we can improve people’s lives.”
Trump agreed that government overspending needs to be tackled, suggesting that the “Waste is incredible.”
Highly Anticipated Interview
The wide-ranging conversation was broadcast in audio format in a Space on X, but it was delayed by more than 30 minutes due to what Musk said was a DDoS attack—a cyber attack that floods a system with requests for data, overwhelming the site and limiting access. As the interview kicked off, more than one million users were listening.
The incident was similar to the launch of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential bid in May 2023, also hosted on Spaces. The audio stream repeatedly crashed, making it difficult for users to hear the candidate in real time.
Musk and Trump spoke about issues from the assassination attempt on Trump, the economy, energy prices, and the United States’ standing in the world.
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.
“On balance, it’s probably better to move there faster than slower,” Musk said. “Without vilifying the oil industry and without causing hardship in the short term, I think this can be done.”
Energy Prices
Trump then turned to increasing energy prices and their financial impacts.
“We have to bring energy prices down,” Trump said, speaking of how to spur the economy. “We have to build a lot of energy if we will be competitive with China,” he added.
Trump noted how fossil fuel is used in the power plants that generate electricity for the sort of electric cars that Tesla, Musk’s other company, creates. “You sort of can’t get away from it … Someday you might be able to.”
Trump said he also believes that “nuclear warming,” rather than “climate change,” is the immediate problem.
He added that in addition to the countries that have nuclear capabilities, others are on the cusp of attaining the weaponry. “And that’s very dangerous,” Trump added.
Then-President Donald Trump acknowledges Spacex founder Elon Musk (R) after the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the manned Crew Dragon spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 30, 2020. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Musk said he believes the oil and gas industry is essential to the U.S. economy.
“I think we shouldn’t vilify the oil and gas industry and the people that have worked very hard in those industries to provide the necessary energy to support the economy,” he said.
“If we were to stop using oil and gas right now, we would all be starving, and the economy would collapse,” the CEO added.
Air Force One Costs
Trump thought the cost of Air Force One, the president’s airplane, was too high, so he negotiated a lower cost, he said. He suggested that presidents need to do more in negotiating prices.
Trump also discussed his administration’s efforts to prioritize deregulation before the COVID-19 pandemic encroached in early 2020.
“We did radical cuts on things that weren’t necessary,” Trump said, adding that if the pandemic hadn’t occurred, “We were set to start reducing the debt. We were going to reduce taxes further.”
Trump suggested that relief spending in the subsequent administration added “trillions of dollars” of debt to the deficit, further impacting inflation and the U.S. economy.