Even Donald Trump doubted Elon Musk’s ability to cut $1 trillion in federal spending.

“Was it all bulls–t?” Trump asked advisers of Musk’s cost-cutting under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Wall Street Journal reported in a behind-the-scenes look at the pair’s working relationship.

Musk pledged to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget but ultimately managed to cut only $170 billion, according to DOGE’s own calculations, which have themselves been called into question.

  • SinningStromgald@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    148
    ·
    2 days ago

    In the wake of the Times report, Republicans and Democrats alike have connected Musk’s drug use with his erratic behavior—including his Nazi-like salute during Trump’s inauguration and mumbling interviews.

    No, the Nazi salute was done by the real Musk and expressed his actual views. The drugs may have lowered his inhibitions but they didn’t “make him” do it.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      27
      ·
      1 day ago

      I’m a little concerned that democrats are giving him the out, though. Like.

      No.

      He did it because he’s a fucking Nazis.

    • TheFogan@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      42
      ·
      2 days ago

      well yeah what I was going to say… that’s like someone getting drunk and bursting into racial slurs… the conclusion isn’t that he’s a great guy that got drunk, the conclusion is he’s a racist that at least knows that his views aren’t tollerated in polite society normally.

  • null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    63
    ·
    2 days ago

    I dislike the use of the term “cut”.

    If I don’t buy food for my family this week can I really brag that I’ve cut my family budget?

    • ryrybang@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      22
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 days ago

      Close. A fuller analogy is you don’t buy food for your family for the week and you hope little Timmy suffers or dies as a result. Because you don’t like little Timmy.

  • Ghosthacked@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    22
    ·
    2 days ago

    Musk got everything he paid the orange clown for.
    He got to go in and dismantle all of the government organizations that were investigating his companies and then got to datamine sacred cows (social security, etc) for his own purposes.

    • TheCriticalMember@aussie.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      18 hours ago

      Yup. All these reports acting like musk stepping away means the crisis is over but the damage is already done. Could take years or decades to figure out what he’s done while he had unrestricted access to all those systems, and what’s still in his possession and what access he still has now.

  • Kurious84@eviltoast.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    2 days ago

    These morons like trump can’t help but admit the truth. They somehow think if they say the truth nobody will believe it’s true. Some weird shit like that.

    Musk was a drug addict, hired little scumbag brats with no morals, and talks to our enemies like Putin on the phone. Then they let him into all our databases.