Walter Isaacson: Musk Will Bring His Chainsaw Approach to Government—Expect Rubble and Results

Walter Isaacson: Musk is going to go in with a chainsaw. There's going to be a lot of rubble.

“Musk believes that you really have to question every requirement.

You're looking at all these federal requirements, even requirements they're suing him about. He just believes you start there, you simplify, and he's going to go in with a chainsaw.

There's going to be a lot of rubble, but there's an enormous amount of impact he is going to have. You'll see the Musk method be applied to the federal government.

The big difference is Elon Musk has done this at Twitter, he's done it at SpaceX, he's done it at Tesla, and now he's going to try to do the exact same thing, we know the playbook, in the federal government.

But he does not own the federal government. He owned all those companies, or at least totally controlled them.

And what will matter is when he tries to do it, when he tries to cut, you know, NASA contracts in Alabama or post offices somewhere, and the congressmen say no, we're appropriating that money, how much will Donald Trump stand up for him?

I suspect for at least a year, Trump will, because Trump understands Musk's operating style, and he likes it.”

NBC News, January 20, 2025