Musk Details Plan to Slash the Federal Budget Deficit in Half by 2026 in Meeting with Trump.

(The National Pulse)—Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has laid out details on plans to cut the federal deficit in half by 2026 in an Oval Office meeting with President Donald J. Trump. The technology billionaire emphasized that success in tackling the deficit will come down to “competence and caring” among Trump administration officials, especially those working at DOGE.

“[W]hat are the two ingredients that are really necessary in order to cut the budget deficit in half from two trillion to one trillion? And it’s really two things: competence and caring,” Musk said during the Oval Office event, where President Trump signed a new executive order directing DOGE to streamline the federal workforce. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO continued: “[I]f you add competence and caring, you’ll cut the budget deficit in half, and I fully expect to be scrutinized and get, you know, a daily proctology exam, basically… but, with the support of the President, we can we can cut the budget deficit in half from two trillion to one.”

According to Musk, a combination of cuts in federal government spending and an aggressive deregulation agenda will create two fronts aimed at slashing the deficit. The amount of the deficit that isn’t reduced through spending reduction will be wiped out by economic growth, Musk contends. “I think we can get the economic growth to be maybe three or four percent, maybe five percent. And that means, if you can get $1 trillion of economic growth and you can cut the budget deficit by a trillion between now and next year, there is no inflation.”

The DOGE chief notes if the federal government is borrowing less and the economy sees robust growth, the cost of goods and services for average Americans should drop significantly. […]

.@ElonMusk: "[W]hat are the two ingredients that are really necessary in order to cut the budget deficit in half from 2 trillion to 1 trillion? And it's really two things: competence and caring. And if you add competence and caring, you'll cut the budget deficit in half and –… pic.twitter.com/6cIvyNU3cl

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 11, 2025