Elon Musk initially promised that DOGE would slash $2 trillion in ‘waste, fraud and abuse,’ a goal that was later reduced to $1 trillion

The world’s richest man, who dramatically exited the White House in May after a public feud with Donald Trump, initially promised that DOGE would slash $2 trillion in “waste, fraud and abuse,” a goal that was later reduced to $1 trillion and eventually $150 billion.

DOGE claimed to have slashed tens of billions of dollars in expenditures, but it was impossible for outside financial experts to verify that because the agency did not provide detailed public accounting of its work.

But analysis by think tanks and The New York Times concluded that, despite DOGE’s claims, spending actually went up in 2025.