Elon Musk is raising the alarm about something many Americans might not even realize is a problem: the national debt. In a series of posts on X, Musk shared his concerns about the growing financial burden, warning that it’s spiraling out of control.
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“Most people don’t even know what the national debt is, let alone how massive it’s become,” Musk said. He pointed out that the U.S. now owes more than $36 trillion and that interest payments on this debt are eating up more money than the country spends on its military. “Only a small percentage of people understand that government overspending is a big reason why we have inflation,” he added.
Musk didn’t hold back when describing the situation. “America is going bankrupt fast,” he warned in another post. According to him, the government’s habit of spending more than it earns is driving up inflation, which he called a hidden tax on everyone. “All government spending is taxation,” Musk said. “It’s either direct, like income tax, or indirect, through inflation caused by printing more money.”
In another warning, Musk said that if nothing changes, all the money collected in taxes could eventually go toward paying off just the interest on the national debt. “There will be nothing left for anything else,” he said. If the issue isn’t addressed soon, Musk believes, the U.S. dollar could lose its value entirely.
To tackle this massive challenge, President-elect Donald Trump has enlisted Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The goal? To clean up wasteful government spending and bring in fresh ideas to make the system work better. Trump described the program as an “entrepreneurial approach to government like never seen before.”
Musk and Ramaswamy, who are volunteering for the role rather than becoming federal employees, explained in a Wall Street Journal piece that their mission is to help identify where money is being wasted and suggest real reforms to fix it. They’ll work with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget to make it happen.
Musk’s warning and his role in this initiative come with a clear message: if the U.S. doesn’t get its financial house in order, the consequences could be disastrous. Whether his involvement can help turn things around remains to be seen, but one thing is clear—he’s not staying quiet about the issue.
