JD Vance‚ who called Trump “a total fraud“ about 8 years ago is now standing beside him as vice president-elect; while UKʼs Foreign Secretary who once criticized Trump harshly now enjoys dinner with him in NY (showing how quick opinions can shift in politics)
The president-electʼs new-found alliance with Elon Musk brings an eye-catching plan: creating a Department of Government Efficiency thats gonna trim $2 trillion from the federal budget - which is roughly one-third of this years spending. However some clear issues dont add up in this plan
- No cuts to social security
- Medicare stays untouched
- New corporate tax reductions
- Possible capital gains tax cuts
During his first White House stint Trump added over $8 trillion to Americas debt (and that was mostly before covid hit). The self-proclaimed “king of debt“ hasnt shown much change in his spending views - even though todays economic landscape looks very different
The current high-interest environment means debt payments eat up about $1 trillion yearly: thats almost 20% of the federal budget that cant be touched. With total debt reaching 125% of GDP and rising interest rates that wont likely drop in next 4 years - this creates a tough spot for any budget cuts
With both House and Senate under Republican control Trump has a rare chance to make real fiscal changes. But his mixed messages about cutting government size while protecting major spending programs and offering new tax cuts - makes it hard to see how Elon Musk can achieve those ambitious budget reduction goals