Musk told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” that he was confident his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could find US$1 trillion in savings, slimming current total federal spending levels of about US$7 trillion down to US$6 trillion.

Musk, the world’s richest person, was designated by the White House as a “special government employee,” which caps his work at 130 days. That means his period leading the DOGE operation could finish as soon as the end of May.

“I think we will accomplish most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame,” Musk said when asked by Baier about his tenure and how quickly he expected to achieve his cost-cutting target.

“The government is not efficient, and there is a lot of waste and fraud, so we feel confident that a 15% reduction can be done without affecting any of the critical government services,” Musk said.

DOGE estimates it has saved US taxpayers US$115 billion as of March 24 through actions including workforce reductions, asset sales and contract cancellations.

However, the savings total published on the DOGE website is unverifiable and its calculations have been riddled with errors and corrections. Budget experts say Musk cannot reach his target without touching entitlement programmes like social security, which Trump has vowed not to cut.

The interview marked the first time that Musk and his top lieutenants at DOGE met with media to explain their work. Musk was joined by seven other DOGE executives, including Steve Davis, the president of Musk’s tunneling enterprise the Boring Company, and Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb.

“Unless this exercise is successful, the ship of America will sink. That’s why we’re doing it,” said Musk, who is also CEO of electric car maker Tesla.

Musk’s role in slashing the federal workforce and government agency budgets has drawn political backlash in recent weeks, with Tesla cars and dealerships hit by a spate of vandalism and demonstrations across the country.