Instead of penning something for Santa this year, I thought I might instead try to leave a note for Elon Musk, Genius and Budget Cutter in Chief, for helping another jolly man with a big, round belly … though perhaps better known for keeping an enemy list than for checking things twice.
The Musk-funded Super PAC impacted not only the size of its spending—reportedly a donation north of $200 million—but also helped Team Trump identify a target and turn out previously inactive voters, particularly in the seven battleground states.
In this 2024 election, Donald Trump gained more than 2.8 million votes, many in places where he needed them, over his 2020 totals.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s totals shed closer to 7 million Biden votes, particularly in states with little breathing room. It’s hard to know how many of those were Democrats and independents sitting out this race versus taking a walk on the other side of the street. The total 2020 contest tally was also 4.2 million votes higher.
Now, the Musk Task Force will move on to a more significant challenge, which may be too much for one of the world’s wealthiest men and an arguable genius. Mr. Musk has at least three challenges worth noting. Like Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk promises to reduce federal government spending by $2 trillion. For comparative purposes, the Federal Government spending in Ronald Reagan’s first budget was about $1 trillion, making the newly created DOGE spending target dodge twice the entire budget of 1981.
Nearly two-thirds of most federal spending is fixed, recurring obligations, such as transfer payments (Social Security), and entitlements like TANF, SNAP, and Medicare/Medicaid, which, though down from pandemic peaks, continue to increase steadily. Though the federal deficit now exceeds $33 trillion, Musk is tasked with a much-needed objective: slowing the growth of federal spending and eliminating waste. However, this is mainly within the confines of approximately 26% of the discretionary budget.
Having done some earlier private sector work for the Trump organization, with light exposure to the man himself, and digesting several unauthorized biographies, I have gleaned a few helpful pointers for Elon.
1. Dim your spotlight: Despite your many successes and justifiably large ego, Trump’s is more prominent. As you are vastly wealthier, and he cannot “top” you there, you will need to allow him still to be the most intelligent guy in the room —at least when you share his space. Ask around; folks who divert from this plan seldom remain in that orbit for long.
2 . Pick your battles: As witnessed by how quickly the president-elect walked away from your preference for attorney general (former Congressman Matt Gaetz), Trump highly values loyalty, but not when that loyalty begins to cost him. When you try to push him somewhere he doesn’t want to go, make the ask after a series of unrelated wins, and if possible, help him view the potential shift in his idea.
3. Brown nosing — yes; constant sycophant — no: As former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo learned and demonstrated, Trump can be briefed, even coached, if preceded by a healthy dose of unearned compliments and flattery.
4. Pick and make an easy win: Start with an agency like the U.S. Postal Service, clearly in need of a reorganization, or even Amtrak, although high-speed rail remains a pipedream. Make the win big for those two quasi-public agencies, demonstrating that significant improvements and ending deficiencies are doable.
5. Share the credit: Just as there is no “I” in the team, you already used a bit of CEO speak when discussing the successes of Tesla or your SpaceX ventures. When accepting praise, potential later honors, or even prospective calls to run for president, always (always) use “we,” acknowledging Trump’s leadership. Perhaps watch the last few months of almost any appearance by Vice-President-elect JD Vance.
Even a witty billionaire like yourself can always use an extra quick, quippy comeback. As most everyone will ask you, Elon (considering you were an Andrew Yang Democratic supporter four years ago for the White House before his rocket flamed out early), when asked why you are doing this, just wink, smile, dip your chin a bit, look back up, and say, “This is the quickest way I could figure out a way to get to Mars.”
No charge; it’s the least I can do for the world’s most prosperous, short-listed, most brilliant guy.