In 130 Days, Donald Trump And Elon Musk Carried Out An All-Out Assault On Americans’ Safety, Security, And Stability – And Missed 90% Of DOGE’s $2 Trillion “Goal”
Washington Post: Public sours on Musk’s role, is skeptical that government is cutting waste
Rolling Stone: Inside Elon Musk’s Gleeful Destruction of the Government
Mother Jones: Elon Musk Made Your Life Worse
The Guardian: Move fast and destroy things: 100 chaotic days of Elon Musk in the White House
Above The Law: Elon Musk’s DOGE Disaster Will Likely Cost Taxpayers Nearly 4 Times More Than It Cut
BILLIONAIRES DONALD TRUMP AND ELON MUSK DIDN’T FIX GOVERNMENT—THEY DISMANTLED IT, ALL TO ENRICH THEMSELVES AND THEIR WEALTHY FRIENDS. AS MUSK’S TIME AS A TRUMP OFFICIAL COMES TO AN END, THE DAMAGE IS CLEAR: THEY GUTTED THE PUBLIC WORKFORCE, SLASHED VITAL SERVICES, AND LEFT EVERYDAY AMERICANS WITH LESS STABILITY AND SECURITY.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk claimed they cut waste, fraud, and abuse. They lied. Instead of making government more efficient, they took a wrecking ball to critical agencies, programs and services—hurting American families and workers, and making Americans less safe and secure. And DOGE didn’t even get close to hitting Musk’s $2 trillion target for cutting spending. He has reduced this target several times, to $1 trillion then to $150 billion, and even that goal may not be reached.
Here’s what Trump and Musk actually did:
Slashed Social Security: Trump and Musk strangled the Social Security Administration and abandoned America’s seniors. They gutted the agency—firing thousands of workers, shuttering field offices, and disrupting phone services—leaving seniors with longer wait times, delayed disability claims, and lost benefits. A direct attack on the people who need government most.
Neglected Veterans: Trump and Musk betrayed America’s veterans. They fired thousands of veterans from the federal workforce, gutted VA staffing, and slashed funding for critical care—from chemotherapy to support for those suffering from toxic exposure to burn pits. Veterans served their country—Trump and Musk turned their backs on them.
Gutted Public Health: Trump and Musk dismantled America’s public health safety net. They fired thousands of health workers and canceled billions in funding for state and local public health departments—cutting resources used to track infectious diseases, fight addiction, and deliver mental health care. They left communities more vulnerable.
Risked Aviation Safety: Trump and Musk risked aviation safety in the name of “efficiency.” They fired hundreds of FAA employees responsible for designing flight routes, maintaining air traffic facilities, supporting air traffic controllers, and working on national security—leading to a spike in delays for American travelers. While Americans sat on tarmacs and air traffic systems strained under pressure, Trump and Musk prioritized deregulation over public safety.
Dismantled Environmental Protections: Trump and Musk targeted the EPA—firing staff, canceling grants, and gutting scientific research, while giving companies permission to pollute into our neighborhoods. They even slashed the workforce at the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, including our national park employees and wildfire experts, putting our communities at risk and making it hard to access our public lands. Keeping our environment and communities safe and healthy is not government waste, it’s critical.
Targeted FEMA: Trump and Musk have already crippled FEMA as we know it. They slashed disaster preparedness grants, gutted staff who respond to emergencies, and pushed to dismantle the very agency responsible for helping communities recover after hurricanes, wildfires, and floods, leaving the agency scrambling just as peak hurricane and wildfire seasons begin. In the face of climate disasters, they pulled back government support—leaving Americans to fend for themselves.
Crippled Consumer Financial Protections: Trump and Musk crippled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and turned their backs on working families. They fired 90% of the agency’s staff—1,500 workers—and dismantled the very team tasked with holding big banks, payday lenders, and credit card companies accountable and keeping more hard-earned money in the pockets of working people. While corporations raked in record profits, American consumers have been left exposed to fraud, junk fees, and predatory loans.
Enabled Corruption: Trump and Musk ran government like a personal cash machine. Musk gained billions in taxpayer-funded contracts, tried to buy a state Supreme Court seat, and even hosted a Tesla promotion event on the White House lawn—all while cutting services for Americans. Trump granted Musk and DOGE unprecedented access to nonpublic data—including Social Security data and IRS data—with a complete disregard for privacy protections, all of which could leave vulnerable tens of millions of Americans to identity theft that could cost them tens of billions of dollars annually. While families played by the rules, they used the government to enrich themselves and protect their power.
Decimated US Standing Abroad: Trump and Musk didn’t just wreck government at home—they weakened America’s power, influence, and standing abroad. They eliminated critical foreign assistance programs and diplomacy tools, dismantled the US Agency for International Development, and destroyed influence tools like US Institute for Peace and the US Agency for Global Media, weakening our ability to support democracy, stand up for US interests, and respond to global crises. Trump and Musk left our allies behind and allowed Russia and China to fill in the void.
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