Former President Trump pledged Thursday that if elected, he will create a new task force focused on cutting federal programs and eliminating “trillions” in illegal payments.

The announcement came during an hour-long speech to the Economic Club of New York that frequently veered into falsehoods. The proposed Government Efficiency Commission would be led by billionaire Elon Musk, who recently endorsed the Republican nominee and suggested the idea to Trump in an interview last month.

“At the suggestion of Elon Musk, who has given me his complete and total approval — isn’t that nice? Smart guy, he knows what he’s doing — I will create a government efficiency commission charged with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms,” ​​Trump said. “And Elon, because he’s not that busy, has agreed to head that task force.”

Trump boasted that his administration would use the commission to end improper government payments and save taxpayers “trillions,” all in a matter of months.

“In 2022, fraud and improper payments are estimated to cost Americans hundreds of billions of dollars, but with our action plan, we will eliminate fraud and improper payments completely within six months,” he said. “This will save trillions of dollars. It’s huge. For the same service you have today.”

Trump also promised to roll back all unspent funds allocated as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, falsely claiming that Democrats agreed after the measure’s passage that the law amounted to “giveaways” rather than an attempt to address inflation and the federal deficit.

Trump’s choice of Musk to lead the planned task force will undoubtedly raise eyebrows. Since buying Twitter in 2022, he has become increasingly controversial, frequently posting disinformation about LGBTQ+ individuals and minorities, including conducting race science. And he is a prominent federal contractor who receives billions of dollars annually in connection with SpaceX and its subsidiary Starlink, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

Musk is also known for his anti-union stances and anti-union tactics as CEO of electric carmaker Tesla. He is alleged to have illegally spied on and fired union leaders, among other things. He is also a defendant in multiple complaints currently pending before the National Labor Relations Board.

Trump’s announcement was immediately slammed by Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing workers at federal agencies.

“Billionaires like Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the folks behind Project 2025 want to get rid of the apolitical civil service, fire hundreds of thousands of dedicated public servants, and replace them with a corrupt spoils system where government workers are hired and fired based on their loyalty to Donald Trump, not on their ability to do their jobs or uphold their oath to uphold the law and the Constitution,” Kelley said in a statement. “There is nothing efficient about this. In fact, it will lead to levels of waste, fraud, and abuse in government not seen since the 1800s… Elon Musk and Donald Trump care about one thing: lining their own pockets. Not about the efficiency of government, and certainly not about making things better for ordinary Americans.”