Commission planned

Elon Musk to become financial auditor under Trump

Donald Trump has announced that if he wins the election, he will appoint tech billionaire Elon Musk to head a committee to review US government spending. The "Commission on Government Efficiency" would carry out a "complete financial and performance audit of the government" and make recommendations for "drastic reforms", Trump said in a speech in New York.

The commission was a recommendation from Musk. "If he has the time, he'll do it well. He has agreed to do it," said Trump. The Tesla boss is supporting the Republican in the presidential election campaign. He regularly campaigns against Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, against whom Trump is running in the presidential election on November 5.

On his online platform X, he now wrote: "I look forward to serving America when the opportunity arises. No pay, no title and no recognition."

He had previously said in a live conversation with Trump on X in August that such a commission should ensure that taxpayers' money was spent in "a good way" and offered his "help" with such a project.

Trump gave a speech in New York on his plans for economic policy. The ex-president again announced tariffs on foreign products - during his first term in office, Trump instigated trade conflicts with China and the European Union.

"Promote domestic production"
"America will promote domestic production instead of punishing it," he said in New York. Economists fear that such broad-based tariffs could fuel inflation in the USA again and that the costs would be passed on to consumers.

Trump rejects this criticism of his proposals. "Foreign countries will pay us hundreds of billions of dollars, which will reduce the deficit and lower inflation," he said. Many of the tariff opponents would work for other countries, Trump went on to claim.