Trump-Musk Interview: 4 Biggest Takeaways That Could Impact Your Wallet
Written by
Dawn Allcot
Edited by
Ashley Barnett
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk chatted on X’s Spaces feature, a live audio chat platform. They spoke for two hours while up to 1.3 million people listened live, according to Reuters.
From this, voters can glean some important takeaways regarding Trump’s stance on various topics affecting Americans and the world. As Musk stated early in the conversation, “[This] is really aimed at kind of open-minded, independent voters who are just trying to make up their minds.”
The two businessmen discussed immigration, war, climate change, inflation, and many other topics impacting Americans.
Musk summed up his priorities toward the end of the interview. “[T]he things I think are important for the future is we’ve gotta have safe cities. We’ve gotta have secure borders. We’ve gotta have sensible spending. And we’ve gotta have deregulation.”
Let’s explore the aspects of their talk that can directly affect the economy and personal finance for Americans.
Tougher Stance on Immigration
For Trump, safe cities seem to go hand-in-hand with secure borders and a healthier economy. He spent several minutes discussing immigration. Trump’s claims of increased crime or Venezuela sending released prisoners over the U.S. border could not be easily verified, apart from a series of letters from Congressman Troy Nehls to the Department of Homeland Security. The assumption is that cracking down on illegal immigration would free up more resources for legal residents. “It’s just not possible for the US to absorb, you know, everyone from Earth,” Musk said.
Lower Oil Prices
During his first presidency, Trump approved the Keystone XL pipeline, which was shut down under President Barack Obama. Trump said opening the oil pipeline created 48,000 jobs. Since the price and availability of domestic oil plays a role in the cost of goods, re-opening the pipeline could help curb cost-push inflation, where the price of goods rises because production (and, often, transportation) costs more. Trump told Musk, “We have to bring energy prices down.”
Reiterating his classic line, “Drill, baby, drill,” Trump implied that wind and “different things,” (presumably, solar energy) won’t supply enough energy. “[T]he day after they [Democrats] get into office, this country will go out of business because they’re gonna go to an energy policy that’s not sustainable,” Trump said.
Musk took an opportunity later in the conversation to clarify his stance on the environment and climate change. “I don’t think it’s right to vilify oil and gas,” said the Tesla CEO. “If we over-regulated it or ban it people would starve.”
Move Toward More Efficient Government
Trump blamed several factors on inflation, including the high price of oil and government spending. Musk introduced the point that, “Inflation comes from government overspending because the checks never bounce when it’s written by the government… And if the money supply increases faster than the rate of goods and services, that’s inflation.”
He suggested a government efficiency commission to curb spending. “Would you agree that we need to take a look at government spending and have, perhaps, a government efficiency commission that just tries to make the spending sensible and so that the country lives within its means, just like a person does?”
Trump shared examples of where he negotiated discounts with government contractors, including negotiating the cost of Air Force One. “I got the price reduced by $1.6 billion for the exact same plane,” he told Musk.
Musk offered to help out with a government efficiency commission, which could help reduce government spending, curb inflation, and boost the economy.
Business Deregulation
During his prior presidency, Trump fought for business deregulation. In his farewell address, Trump said, “We slashed more job-killing regulations than any administration had ever done before,” according to a report from Brookings.edu. In fact, Trump added fewer regulations than his predecessors.
By taking restraints off businesses, deregulation can spark innovation, encourage competition, reduce costs for businesses, and improve the economy.
Editor’s note on election coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
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