Elon Musk believes that Trump’s economic plans cause “temporary difficulties”

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has become perhaps the most prominent business backer of Donald J. Trump’s campaign. But even he has doubts that the former president’s economic plans will quickly boost the US economy.

Mr. Trump has called for mass deportations of illegal immigrants, an extension of the 2017 tax cuts and a host of additional tax cuts. He also promised to impose comprehensive customs tariffs on all imports.

Budget experts have estimated that these policies could cost as much as $15 trillion over a decade, although Mr. Trump says economic growth and eliminating government waste would easily cover those costs.

But Mr. Musk realizes that it will not be that simple.

As part of his endless series of responses to fans on his social media platform that continue late into the night, Mr. Musk responded to a pseudonymous account early Tuesday morning that posited there would be an “initial overreaction in the economy.” And that “the market will falter” if Mr. Trump is elected and follows through on his plan. After that, the account said: “There will be a rapid recovery towards a healthier and more sustainable economy.”

Mr. Musk responded at 1:46 a.m. with three words: “Sounds about right.”

Mr. Musk’s words on the economy are significant given that Mr. Trump said he would appoint the billionaire to oversee a new “Government Efficiency Commission” focused on cutting spending if the former president wins on Nov. 5.

Mr. Musk has acknowledged that cutting government spending could be painful. In a phone call last Friday evening, Mr. Musk preemptively brought up the consequences of such austerity when a constituent asked him what his first steps would be to reduce the country’s debt if he was appointed to the Commission on Government Efficiency that Mr. Trump had promised.

He said that cutting spending would be relatively easy given the amount of government waste, pledging that there would be “no exceptions” and that the tax code should be simplified to eliminate loopholes.

“But more importantly, we have to cut spending in order to live within our means. This necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity,” Mr. Musk said in concluding his answer, and he did not expand on the hardship.

Mr. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Harris campaign seized on the remarks on Tuesday, calling them evidence that Mr. Trump would mismanage the economy.

Mr. Musk, owner of the social media platform Mr. Trump privately told Mr. Musk that he wanted the businessman to cut government costs just as he did in X.

Trump did not say much about how to reduce spending. He has called for rolling back much of the inflation-reducing law passed by Democrats in 2022, and has called tax incentives to fight climate change wasteful. However, Mr. Trump has pledged not to enact cuts to social safety net programs like Social Security or Medicare, which are the biggest drivers of the country’s roughly $36 trillion debt.

“We’re all about growth,” Trump said at the Economic Club of Chicago this month, adding that his mix of tax cuts and tariffs would force companies to invest in U.S. manufacturing.

Economists have been very wary of Mr. Trump’s economic plans.

that analysis The nonpartisan Peterson Institute for International Economics, published last month, predicted that Trump’s policies would lead to higher inflation and slower economic growth. They found that his plans would particularly hurt U.S. manufacturing and agriculture, especially if American trading partners responded by imposing higher tariffs.