Trump teases potential role for 'great business guy' Elon Musk in administration: 'Secretary of Cost-Cutting'
Elon Musk could take a relatively active role in a potential second Trump administration, the former president told Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.
"He's a great business guy, and he's a great cost-cutter," he said during an exclusive "Sunday Morning Futures" interview. "And he [Musk] said, ‘I could cut costs without affecting anybody.’"
Bartiromo, drawing from that response, asked Trump whether Musk would be in his Cabinet if he assumes office again in January.
"He doesn't want to be in the Cabinet," he replied. "He just wants to be in charge of cost-cutting."
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"We'll have a new position: Secretary of Cost-Cutting. Elon wants to do that, and we have incredible people. He's running a big business. He can't just say, 'I think I'll go into the Cabinet.' Other people can. He can't, but Elon's a little bit different in that sense."
Musk's ambitions aim even higher, and he's looking to outer space to make them happen.
"He's made me a promise to get to Mars before the end of my administration, which will be long before, hopefully, China or Russia," Trump said, noting that he established Space Force during his first term in 2019.
"It's [Space Force is] now going to be one of our most important things. We were getting killed in space by China and by Russia, and now we're leading in space."
Donning a "Dark MAGA" hat and a t-shirt reading "Occupy Mars," Musk made his debut appearance on the Trump campaign trail in the former president's first return to Butler, Pa., since narrowly escaping death at the same location on July 13.
There, Musk warned what impact a Harris presidency could have on the First Amendment.
"This is no ordinary election," he claimed. "The other side wants to take away your freedom of speech."
Musk has since moved on to campaigning at other sites, Trump noted, telling Bartiromo that, with just over three weeks left until voters head to the polls, the business mogul is stumping for him in the Keystone State yet again.
"He's actually campaigning because he says, 'If we don't win, we're not going to have a country,'" Trump explained.
He separately added, "I think that we just have to win, and the only thing you can do is to win. These are bad people, and they're surrounded by very bad people. I think they're surrounded by much worse people than they are. Joe didn't really know too much about where he was, and Kamala is worse than him."