Trump and Musk's Very Unpopular Plan to Slash Government

Trump ran as a populist, but is now more interested in cutting government than helping the working class

Donald Trump won two presidential elections (and came close a third time), in part because he ran against the Republican brand. In 2016, he attacked George W. Bush and his legacy of ill-fated wars of choice. He attacked corruption within the Republican establishment. He (falsely) claimed to oppose larger tax breaks for the very wealthy and cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. In his 2024 primary campaign, Trump badgered Ron DeSantis for voting for Social Security and Medicare cuts when he was in Congress. Gone from Trump’s messaging was the long-time Republican obsession with slashing government spending, reducing debts and deficits, and privatizing Social Security and Medicare.

Put another way, Trump ran to the right of the Republicans on immigration and cultural issues and to the left on economic matters.

This is a powerful political formula. He generated huge voter turnout, particularly in rural America, and moved traditionally Democratic working-class voters into his column.

Three weeks into his presidency, Trump abandoned that formula. He is still aggressively pushing a right-wing cultural agenda and approach to immigration. With great fanfare, Trump is targeting diversity programs, the trans community, and anything speciously defined as “woke.” On immigration, the Trump Administration has tried (and failed) to end birthright citizenship, making a show of every deportation raid and even detaining migrants at the Guantanamo Bay military prison. However, in terms of economics, Trump swung the other way.

Trump unleashed Elon Musk and his DOGE bags (h/t Jon Favreau) across the federal government to slash spending and eliminate agencies. Trump’s top legislative priority is a massive tax cut that will overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy.

Presidents get in trouble when they govern in ways that break faith with their campaign promises. And that’s precisely what Trump is doing.

What Does Trump Want to Cut?

The pace of the Trump Administration’s decisions make it difficult to keep track of everything he (and Musk) are doing.

In three weeks, Trump and Musk:

• Tried and (temporarily) failed to freeze all federal spending for programs and grants;

• Essentially destroyed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), laying off most of the staff and stopping money from going out the door to critical programs, including AIDS/HIV treatments, the distribution of food supplies to famine victims, and health services for refugees.