Elon Muskthe richest man in the world, said that if Donald Trump wins and gives him a role in government, Americans will suffer “hardship” as a result of efforts to address the national debt. He made the comments in a virtual town hall on his website, X, on Friday.

When asked about “addressing the nation’s debt,” he mentioned changing the tax code, then said there would be some financial hardship imposed on some Americans: “Most importantly, we have to cut spending to live within our means.” he said, adding that these efforts will “involve some temporary hardships, but will ensure long-term prosperity.”

Musk later said he would “immediately balance the budget,” adding, “Obviously, a lot of people who take advantage of the government are going to be upset about that. I will probably need a lot of security, but it has to be done. And if it’s not done, we simply go bankrupt.”

Trump has said that Musk will lead a “government efficiency commission” to conduct “a comprehensive financial and performance audit of the entire federal government” and make “recommendations for drastic reforms.”

JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, he suggested which Musk could be targeting social security for possible savings. Speaking last month about the billionaire’s potential role, Vance said: “How are we going to fix all the broken inefficiencies?” He continued, “And the thing that’s complicated about that, man, is it’s going to look a lot different in, say, the Department of Defense versus Social Security.”

Musk endorsed Trump in mid-July. He has given nearly $119 million to the pro-Trump Super PAC, America PAC, since early July before publicly endorsing the former president. The group has spent $123 million to boost Trump in the presidential race, including $102 million since Vice President Kamala Harris took over the Democratic ticket, according to federal election records.

To save money, the Trump campaign effectively outsourced its get-out-the-vote program to Musk’s America PAC. That Rolling Stone some Republicans close to Trump reported they warned the former president that they are concerned with the effectiveness of the group’s efforts.

Republicans have long been apprehensive about the national debt during Democratic presidencies — and have seemed less concerned about it during GOP administrations. “People who claim to be deeply concerned about debt are, all too often, hypocrites – the level of their hypocrisy is often surreal.” he wrote New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.

The tax law that Trump signed in 2017, which lowered tax rates for corporations and the wealthy, contributed heavily to the national deficit. trump card he personally boasted about cutting taxes for the nation’s “highest” earners, pledging to maintain those tax cuts, and at the same time proposing an additional cut in the corporate tax rate.

Musk is a major government contractor and recipient of federal spending. His company, SpaceX, has several federal contracts, including $1.8 billion contract with an intelligence agency to make a global satellite surveillance network. The company also works with NASA to get astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Speaking about the national debt on Friday, the Tesla CEO and X owner said: “If you’re an individual and you’re racking up crazy debt, well, obviously … you’ve got to cut your expenses and you’ve got to start paying. debt. And the same goes for a country. So that’s what I’d like to do.”

Musk, of course, borrowed $13 billion to buy Twitter in 2022 before rebranding the social media platform as X. wall Street journal called this “the worst buy for banks since the financial crisis”.

At an America PAC town hall Saturday in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Musk talked more about the potential spending. “People sometimes ask, like, where would you start with government efficiency? And it’s like being in a room where the whole room is a target and so you can shoot in any direction and not miss,” he said.

He added: “It can’t be like, you know, we’re going to cut a little bit here and there. That won’t go there. There have to be some pretty radical cost reductions.”

At another point during the town hall, Musk again “joked” about someone killing Harris, the vice president.

Calling Harris a “puppet,” Musk said, “I made a joke that was kind of misconstrued, that it was like, ‘No one even bothers to try to kill Kamala.’ That makes no sense. Why? They will just get another doll. Nobody even bothers. Nobody even tried to kill (Joe) Biden.”

Era at least the fourth time that Musk has publicly questioned why no one is trying to kill the president or vice president of the United States.