Donald Trump says he would appoint tech mogul Elon Musk to a new White House post — “Secretary of Cost-Cutting” — if the former president wins the November election.
“He’s a great business guy, and he’s a great cost-cutter,” Trump, 78, told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” of the world’s richest person. “And [Musk] said, ‘I could cut costs without affecting anybody.’ “
Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, said that while the 53-year-old billionaire X and Tesla honcho doesn’t want to be a part of the Cabinet, he does want to focus on cost-cutting.
“We’ll have a new position: Secretary of Cost-Cutting. Elon wants to do that, and we have incredible people. He’s running a big business. He can’t just say, ‘I think I’ll go into the Cabinet.’ Other people can. He can’t, but Elon’s a little bit different in that sense.”
The former president also spoke about Musk’s space ambitions and the promise of getting to Mars. Musk runs Space X, and Trump established the Space Force — a separate sixth branch of the military — during his first term.
“He’s made me a promise to get to Mars before the end of my administration, which will be long before, hopefully, China or Russia,” Trump said.
Musk has been vocal about supporting Trump because of the effects he predicts Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris would bring on the country if she wins the presidential election.
Earlier this month, Musk joined Trump on stage during the former president’s return to Butler, Pa., jumping in the air in his debut with him on the campaign trail.
He will continue to stump for Trump in Pennsylvania, a key swing state, in the next weeks before the election, Trump said on Fox News.
“He’s actually campaigning because he says, ‘If we don’t win, we’re not going to have a country,’ ” Trump went on.
“I think that we just have to win, and the only thing you can do is to win,” the Republican candidate said.
“These are bad people, and they’re surrounded by very bad people,” Trump said of the current Democratic administration. “I think they’re surrounded by much worse people than they are. [President] Joe [Biden] didn’t really know too much about where he was, and Kamala is worse than him.”
Trump has previously spoken about Musk being involved in cost-cutting, telling The Economic Club in New York in September that the businessman would have a role in a government efficiency commission.
The commission would be in charge of “conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms,” Trump said.