Tech billionaire Elon Musk (53) is the biggest beneficiary of Donald Trump’s (78) election victory, but is given a helper for political work. Together with the former Republican presidential candidate and millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy (39), Musk is to take over the leadership of an advisory committee that is intended to improve the efficiency of government work and reduce government spending. This was announced by the team of the US President-elect. The panel will not be part of the government but will work with the White House.
Trump and Musk called the board the “Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge.” The name is an allusion to the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, with which Musk has already made a lot of money using a simple recipe: after every tweet that Musk posted on his platform X with reference to Dogecoin (“Dogecoin is the people’s crypto”) , the coin had generally risen sharply. At the beginning of September, Musk also posted a “Doge” post on X and ensured that owners of the coin could sell their fun currency at significantly increased prices. Great fun for Musk.
Musk made bold promises before the election: He would reduce government spending by “at least $2 trillion.” In fiscal year 2024, the US spent almost $7 trillion, which would correspond to savings According to the Wall Street Journal, cuts of around 30 percent.
To achieve this goal, the US government would have to lay off thousands of civil servants and cut welfare benefits. Trump has already given Musk and Ramaswamy a deadline: on National Day 2026 (July 4th), a few months before the midterm elections, the two cost-killers are supposed to present the results of their work.
Given this schedule, Musk and Ramaswamy would have reason to be nervous. But they know what to think of Trump’s announcements: For eight years now, Trump has continually announced that he will present a new concept for health care for US citizens and thus replace “Obamacare”. What happened was: nothing.
During the election campaign, Musk put around $200 million into the superpac “America PAC” to support Trump. An investment that has already paid off for Musk: One day after Trump’s election victory, Musk’s private assets rose thanks to the rally Teslashares around $26 billion. Tesla could benefit in many ways from Musk’s political influence and his proximity to the White House.
As early as 2020, shortly before his departure from the White House, Trump had made legal preparations to facilitate layoffs in the US government.