Under growing criticism for withdrawing exaggerated claims of government savings and facing allegations of reckless firings, billionaire Elon Musk is intensifying his push to privatize US passenger railways and the Postal Service. Musk, the largest campaign donor to President Donald Trump and head of the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, defended his cost-cutting approach, arguing that privatization is the key to better efficiency.
Speaking virtually at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom conference, Musk called the state of US passenger rail “embarrassing,” citing China’s high-speed trains as a superior model. “Amtrak is a sad situation,” he remarked, advising foreign visitors to avoid using the national rail service. He claimed that government-run services lack an effective feedback loop for improvement, but he did not address the vastly different budgets between US and Chinese railway systems.
Musk’s push comes as he faces mounting scrutiny for his team’s cost-cutting claims. After boasting online of billions in savings, he was forced to retract many of these figures, admitting that some were exaggerated or counted multiple times. Additionally, critics argue that the mass firings Musk has championed violate constitutional limits, as Congress controls federal spending. They warn that cutting jobs in critical sectors like disaster relief, nuclear safety, and infectious disease response poses severe risks to public safety.
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