Elon Musk discusses DOGE cabinet position, economics at Trump rally

Elon Musk made his case for a paradigm shift in United States governance in an impassioned speech at an event in support of Republican candidate Donald Trump on Oct 17. 

The town hall meeting, as it was described, took place in a high school auditorium on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was Musk’s first solo speaking engagement since joining team Trump and he used the opportunity to prop up the Republican candidate as the economically feasible option for voters. 

The billionaire mogul discussed a variety of topics ranging from the US deficit and alleged voter fraud to the US border and freedom of speech. And, while Musk did answer questions related to the possibility that he might head up a new US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) if Trump wins in November, he once again stopped just short of offering a full commitment to take the job. 

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Musk solicited a smattering of cheers when he replied “Yeah, DOGE,” to an audience member who brought up the proposed department but side-stepped the topic of his involvement in his response. Instead, he blamed the nation’s economic problems on the “staggering” amount of wasteful government spending, calling the current administration’s actions a “misuse of the [taxpayers’] funds.” 

Department of Government Efficiency

Trump introduced the idea of having Musk serve as an adviser to his administration, if he’s elected, in an August interview. As Cointelegraph reported, later that same day, Musk posted an image of himself, seemingly as the head of a proposed Department of Government Efficiency, with the caption “I am willing to serve.”

While many have interpreted Musk’s post as an affirmation of his intent to join a potential future Trump cabinet, it’s arguable that Musk’s campaign efforts to date could be considered “service.” 

Prior to Musk’s “DOGE” posts, he created a “Super PAC” — a political action committee — called America PAC that’s focused on registering at least 800,000 new voters in swing states. The PAC is expressly pro-Trump and Musk himself has donated at least $75 million to it. 

With the exception of Musk’s aforementioned post, and his continuing efforts for the Trump-Vance campaign, there’s still no formal indication that the world’s richest person will pivot to politics full time.

Doing so might not be in the best interests of the many stakeholders who could experience a financial shakeup if Musk were to abandon or dilute his leadership position among the more than half a dozen technology companies he owns.

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