President Donald Trump has suggested that Elon Musk’s government efficiency team may have discovered irregularities during their examination of the US Treasury Department’s operations, potentially affecting government payments.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump remarked that “there could be a problem, you’ve been reading about that, with Treasuries.” However, he did not provide further clarification on whether he was referring to US government debt or payments processed by the Treasury Department.
Trump noted that if issues were uncovered, it could result in a reevaluation of certain payments, potentially leading to a reduction in the government’s perceived debt.
“That could be an interesting problem because it could be that a lot of those things don’t count,” he said.
The President suggested that the country’s debt might be lower than previously thought.
The comments come amid ongoing scrutiny by Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been reviewing payments data processed through the Treasury. While Musk’s team has primarily focused on payments to contractors and grant recipients, there has been no indication that the review has directly addressed US government debt bonds.
The efficiency team’s goal is to identify wasteful spending and improve the federal government’s financial operations. An administration official confirmed that efforts to enhance the Treasury’s payment system are intended to help reduce future budget deficits and debt. However, the specifics of what Musk’s team may have found remain unclear, and the White House has yet to provide further details on the matter.
A recent legal challenge by a group of states has temporarily blocked Musk’s team from accessing certain Treasury Department data. A federal judge also ordered the destruction of any information the team had already gathered, further complicating the review process.
Trump’s remarks have raised questions about the possible implications of irregularities in Treasury payments, though it remains uncertain whether these claims will lead to any significant policy shifts. In particular, experts caution that any suggestion of a selective default on US Treasury bonds could provoke a financial crisis. The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to inquiries about the ongoing situation.
The US Treasury Department currently manages a public debt of $36.2 trillion, a key component of the global financial system. The latest comments from Trump, coupled with the efforts of Musk’s efficiency team, underscore the ongoing scrutiny of federal spending practices, but the full impact of these developments remains to be seen.
With input from Bloomberg, Reuters, and the Financial Times.
