Trump claims Musk has already found ‘tens of billions’ in savings. Even DOGE’s social media accounts disagree

‘When you get down to it, it’s going to be probably close to a trillion dollars,’ Trump says. Speaking alongside Musk, Trump claimed that DOGE has found billions in “waste, fraud and abuse.”. “When you get down to it, it’s going to be probably close to a trillion dollars. It could be close to a trillion dollars that we’re going to find,” said Trump. But the president’s figures come nowhere near the numbers shared by the DOGE account on X, the social media site owned by Musk, The Post noted.

The numbers posted, with little to no documentation, add up to about $6 billion a year, according to The Post. However, $4 billion comes from a suggested cap on National Institutes of Health research overhead payments to universities, medical centers and others who have received grants. For the time being, that cap has been blocked by a judge. DOGE has claimed $2 billion in annual savings when it comes to specific line items. Most of those savings seem to come from shutting down diversity or climate change initiatives.

The White House did not dispute the accounting sent by The Post. However, in a statement, the administration told the paper that the government could save as much as $747 billion each year. This is according to two reports from the Government Accountability Office. One of the reports, published last year, states that the “federal government loses an estimated $233 billion to $521 billion” each year to fraud. The second report, also from last year, states that there was an estimated $236 billion in improper payments in the 2023 fiscal year.

The reports are estimates and include caveats for the figures posted. The fraud report was based on information from agency inspectors general, whom Trump has removed from their posts. The report was also based on fraud in existing cases that had already been identified. Following that, an estimate of potential fraud was created. The improper payments report was based on agency estimates of overpayments.

Trump has claimed that these estimates are solid numbers. On January 21, DOGE noted that savings from eliminating the penny would amount to $179 million a year. Trump subsequently ordered the U.S. Mint to stop making the coin. The Mint said in its annual report that making the penny lost it $85.3 million in fiscal year 2024. That same day, the account suggested that $1 billion was saved from canceling diversity, equity, and inclusion contracts.

“In the past six days, the number of lease terminations of underutilized buildings has increased from 3 to 22, with savings increased from $1.6M to $44.6M,” the DOGE account stated on February 2. The following day, they added that “This morning, 20 consulting contracts, mostly focused on ‘strategic communication’ and ‘executive coaching,’ were terminated for immediate savings of $26mm.”.