Steve Bannon said the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) should adjust their goal of cutting trillions of dollars in federal waste and lower the proposed amount to the billion dollar category in an effort to curb inflation.
“This is not a smear against DOGE. I love what DOGE is attempting to do, but the waste, fraud, and abuse is not going to be $1 trillion. It’s just not going to be,” Bannon said during a Friday episode of his War Room podcast.
Instead, he suggested the agency solidify a number within the billions for spending cuts to ward off attacks from Democrats.
“We’ve got to cut federal spending. It’s driving inflation, it’s driving everything, and I think the numbers are going to rapidly deteriorate, going to rapidly deteriorate and the Democrats are going to use that against President Trump,” Bannon told viewers, arguing there needs to be an “absolute number,” as highlighted by Mediate.
“Is it $25 billion? $50 billion, is it $100 billion? Is it $10 billion? I really don’t care what the number is right now,” he added. “What is the absolute number? Let’s drive a stake in the ground.”
Trump has acknowledged the rise in inflation which has impacted consumers across the board but blamed the uptick on the previous administration. Last month, consumer expectations for inflation increased to their highest level in more than a year.
Regardless, the president has remained confident in Musk’s ability to find $1 trillion in federal waste but noted it won’t all be done in one fell swoop.
“As good as they are, they’re not going to find some contract that was crooked, you know crooked as hell,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity.
“And I mean, this is going to be so much that isn’t found,” he continued. “But, what is that I think he’s going to find $1 trillion.”
Bannon, Trump’s former adviser and critic of Musk, has condemned the tech giant’s motives and methods.
“Musk is a parasitic illegal immigrant,” he previously said during an interview with the website UnHerd. “He wants to impose his freak experiment and play-act as God without any respect for the country’s history, tradition or values.”
During Friday’s War Room segment, he casted doubt on the motives of all tech CEOs who have recently been seen with Trump.
“We talk about de-platforming, all those tech bros that are running around and all loving up on President Trump and everybody around President Trump, they were the tip of the spear in doing that and they all bought in,” he said.
“Don’t trust any of them as far as you can throw them,” he added. “They’re not good people, they’re not trustworthy.”
Musk’s role in the second Trump administration has prompted widespread outrage over his push to shrink the federal workforce and scope of the government, spurring protests across the country.
