This story was updated on March 12, 2025 to reflect new comments made by Elon Musk regarding cuts to benefit programs.
Multiple Snopes readers have asked us to investigate a rumor that Elon Musk promised to cut Social Security benefits in his position as the public face of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory body under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Since Trump nominated the Tesla CEO and X owner to the role in November 2024, people have claimed various things about him and the Social Security program, which provides income for American retirees, people with disabilities and families with a deceased spouse or parent. For instance, many social media posts have attributed this quote to Musk: "It will be my objective to phase out Social Security, to pull it out by the roots!"
In March 2025, news outlets — including the Associated Press, Time Magazine and Rolling Stone — began reporting that Musk was considering or "teasing" cuts to Social Security and other benefit programs. Social media users on X — including progressive lawmakers like Michigan Democrat U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin — shared a clip of Musk on Fox Business, claiming he said on the news program that he wants to cut Social Security.
Some people framed the claim as Musk supposedly "declaring war" on Social Security. For instance, opinion writer EJ Montini published a piece in The Arizona Republic titled: "Hey MAGA voters, Elon and Vivek are coming for your Social Security," in reference to Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate who Trump also appointed to lead DOGE.
Meanwhile, some posts on X suggested that Musk wants to "abolish" Social Security entirely:
Why is Elon Musk so obsessed with abolishing Social Security?
— Bridges? (@bebe1969) December 7, 2024.
As of this writing, however, Musk has not explicitly promised to cut Social Security benefits — although he has stated that he wants to cut "waste and fraud" from federal entitlement spending. Entitlement spending includes benefit programs like Social Security. He also hasn't said he wants to "phase out" Social Security or "pull it out by the roots." In reality,
While Musk has publicly advocated for reductions to federal spending in the trillions, there was no explicit evidence of him saying he wants to cut Social Security benefits, specifically, as of this writing. However, efforts by DOGE to cut the federal workforce reportedly may impact Social Security benefits.
We reached out to Musk's team to learn more about his position on federal spending on Social Security benefits, and we'll update this report if we receive a response.
What Elon Musk Has Said Publicly About Social Security
On March 10, 2025, Musk spoke of entitlement waste as the "big one to eliminate," sparking headlines from news outlets that said Musk was "eyeing" Social Security cuts. (Entitlement spending is mandatory spending required by U.S. law; Social Security is a form of entitlement spending and the federal government's single largest program.) Here are his full comments, available in this clip with conservative broadcaster Larry Kudlow from Fox Business (emphasis ours):
Musk: The goal here is let's not have America go bankrupt with waste and fraud. So that's what I'm here for, and we're making good progress.
Kudlow: Yes you are. You going to go another year?
Musk: I think so, yes.
Kudlow: Final report, middle of next year?
Musk: Well, we're just getting things done as opposed to writing a report. Reports don't mean anything, you gotta actually take actions. I mean, the waste and fraud in entitlement spending — which is most of the federal spending, is entitlements. So that's — that's like the big one to eliminate. That's the sort of half a trillion, maybe six, seven hundred billion a year.
Musk has previously claimed that Social Security is rife with fraud, although his evidence lacks credibility. Thus, his comments on Fox Business suggest he wants to cut this supposed fraud from Social Security. However, he did not outright say he wants to cut benefits, and a White House news release in response to news reports about Musk's comments said that neither the Trump administration nor Musk have said they want to cut Social Security benefits.
The release pointed to Government Accountability Office estimates that taxpayers lose between $200 billion to $500 billion annually to fraud, with much of that connected to entitlement programs like Medicaid and Medicare.
On Dec. 9, Musk called Social Security "essential spending" in an X post about government spending:
If we don't fix the deficit, everything will suffer, including essential spending like DoD, Medicare & Social Security.
It's not optional. https://t.co/oxfZXuBXNB— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2024.
Musk has also hinted that he's open to overhauling the entire system. On Dec. 2, one week before the "essential spending" post, he quoted a thread by Lee that called Social Security an "outdated, mismanaged system."
Interesting thread https://t.co/G50cntLkVG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 3, 2024.
It was that repost of Lee's thread that sparked the claims about Musk supposedly "declaring war" on Social Security.
Social Security Works, a group that says it's "fighting to protect and expand Social Security," responded to
Opinion writers, including Montini and Ryan Teague Beckwith at MSNBC, also speculated that Musk may be interested in cutting Social Security benefits after Musk said at an Oct. 27 Trump rally that he thinks it's possible to cut $2 trillion from the federal government's budget.
What People Around Elon Musk Have Said
After the closed-door meeting on DOGE priorities, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican from South Carolina who attended, told Fox Business that "nothing is sacrosanct" in terms of the group's targets for potential cuts. "They're going to put everything on the table," Norman said.
The Fox host noted that targets for potential cuts
In a CNBC interview on Dec. 6, the day after the meeting,
Meanwhile, a day before the meeting, on Dec. 4, Ramaswamy told Axios that while DOGE would look for wasteful spending and fraud in programs like Social Security, any decision about large cuts to benefits "belongs to the voters." He also echoed Scalise's views on tightening restrictions on who can apply for benefits. "
In summary, while Musk has been in conversations with lawmakers about reforming federal spending, has indicated interest in overhauling the Social Security program and has championed efforts to cut the Social Security Administration's workforce, he has not, as of this writing, outright said he would cut, phase out or abolish such benefits.