On Trump’s campaign trail, Musk vowed to lower federal spending by US$2 trillion, a whopping 30% cut from 2024.

However, the world’s richest person said in a discussion streamed online Wednesday evening: “We’ll try for US$2 trillion. I think that’s like the best-case outcome.”

“If we try for US$2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting one,” he added, while speaking with political strategist Mark Penn.

Musk, who is one of Trump’s closest allies, was named head of a newly created department of government efficiency – dubbed DOGE – along with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy after last year’s election. Neither of them has experience in government.

Although the office has an advisory role, Musk’s star power and strong influence in Trump’s inner circle bring political clout.

Musk’s goal was to cut US$2 trillion goal in spending from the government’s US$6.8 trillion budget.

However, this almost certainly meant devastation of social support programmes, something that has never garnered strong political backing.

Around two-thirds of federal spending goes towards programmes that Trump would not be able to cut, or those he has pledged not to, including social security and Medicare.

On Wednesday evening, Musk also suggested lowering the budget deficit from around US$2 trillion to US$1 trillion.

Musk and Ramaswamy have said they can identify billions of dollars of spending cuts, sparking questions about whether Republicans might attempt to slash politically popular social security programmes.