Special Poll
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that his administration is considering using some of the money saved from government spending cuts spearheaded by Elon Musk and his team to help pay down the federal debt and potentially issue direct payments to Americans.
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute gathering in Miami, Trump highlighted efforts led by Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending. He noted that one proposal under consideration would allocate 20 percent of DOGE’s identified savings to American citizens and another 20 percent toward reducing the national debt, describing the savings as “incredible.”
DOGE, which is not an official government agency, recently claimed it had identified $55 billion in spending cuts, though details on where those savings originated remain unclear. The organization published a list of canceled federal contracts on its website, but those contracts account for only about $8.6 billion in savings, according to a report from ABC News.
Both Trump and Musk have been criticized for exaggerating claims about fraud within government programs. While Musk has previously admitted that not all of his statements are accurate and should be fact-checked, Trump has continued to cite inflated figures, including a claim that tens of millions of deceased individuals received fraudulent Social Security payments. However, data from the Social Security Administration indicates that fewer than 100,000 people over the age of 100 currently receive benefits.
Trump also reiterated a widely circulated conservative claim that the U.S. government had spent millions to distribute condoms in Gaza. That claim has been repeatedly debunked.