Musk Sounds the Alarm on US Debt, Recalling $8 Trillion from the Time of Trump

Elon Musk, the richest person in the world and currently heading the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has shared his views on the increasing national debt of the United States. In an effort to raise awareness about the debt, he has received strong reactions for arguing that Trump's first term as President of the United States added about 8 trillion dollars to the total debt. The interest payments of the US government have reportedly soared to their highest level since 1990. The Treasury Department's spending accounted for $882 billion in net interest in the fiscal year ending in September. Interest costs have been added and now stand at $27.7 trillion, isn't this alarming? Musk raises alarm about national debt In the post on X, Musk wrote that a large percentage of people do not know about something called national debt. He tried to convey that most people don't even know how big this issue can be. He added that the country's interest payments now exceed the amount they spend on the military. The head of DOGE emphasized that only a small percentage of the population understands that excessive government spending causes inflation. He even shared a clip in which Marc Andreessen claimed that "the Federal Government now pays more interest on the debt than we pay in the budget to the Department of Defense." Andreessen in the clip also mentioned that the United States pays $1.2 billion a year just in interest on the debt, while the government's total spending is about $7 trillion. However, the total debt is about $35 trillion and increases by another $1 trillion in debt every 100 days.

A user reminded him of the debt that Trump had added during his tenure. He pointed out that the elected president had added 8 trillion dollars to the debt in his first term, and taxpayers are still paying interest on that debt. Even after that, Trump is still trying to find ways to add more tax cuts, supposedly for the wealthy, and that cannot avoid adding to the debt. Can DOGE make it through? The surging interest payments of the United States are believed to be due to the skyrocketing budget deficit as a result of increased spending on Social Security and Medicare, and COVID-related expenses. However, the country has also seen revenue constraints from the 2017 tax cuts. Ultimately, the surging interest rates also add pressure to impacting the financial markets. Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk have pushed their new DOGE to cut federal spending by $500 billion annually. They have even outlined a plan to focus on cutting unauthorized expenses and misallocated expenditures outside of Congress's intent. Meanwhile, their bold statements about spending cuts have faced skepticism. Musk previously proposed a higher target of saving 2 trillion dollars, but experts viewed this as ambitious. This comes after considering that a large portion of the US budget is constrained by mandatory spending for Social Security, Medicare, and defense.