Trump and Musk Want to Cut Billions From the Budget. It Won’t Be Easy. NYT | Top Stories By: Alan Rappeport 25 December 2024 at 03:39 Efforts to cut government spending and eliminate waste are dwarfed by the rising costs of the social safety net programs and interest expenses. © Haiyun Jiang for The New York TimesThe businessman Elon Musk, with his son, and Vivek Ramaswamy on Capitol Hill this month. Budget experts see little hope that the pair, along with President-elect Donald J. Trump, will be able to meaningfully shift the nation’s fiscal trajectory.