Former President Donald J. Trump called for the creation of a government efficiency commission in an economic speech in New York on Thursday, adopting a policy idea that was pitched to him by the billionaire businessman Elon Musk.
Mr. Trump said that Mr. Musk would also lead the commission, which would conduct a sweeping audit of the federal government and recommend “drastic reforms” for cutting waste. He said the commission would save “trillions of dollars.”
Mr. Trump’s embrace of the concept comes as he is trying to define how his stewardship of the economy would differ from that of his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. He has assailed her economic vision as one that would saddle the economy with wasteful spending and burdensome regulations.
During his speech, Mr. Trump also vowed to eliminate 10 existing government regulations for every new regulation added under his potential new administration. Mr. Trump — who during his presidency issued an executive order vowing a similar two-for-one rule — argued that the cost of regulations were being passed onto consumers.
Trump advisers said it was not yet clear how a government efficiency commission would be staffed. But having Mr. Musk lead such a commission could pose potential conflicts of interest. His rocket company, SpaceX, has contracts from the federal government. And his car company, Tesla, has benefited from tax credits and government incentives meant to spur the production and adoption of electric vehicles.
Former Trump administration officials have argued that Mr. Trump could make rapid progress in a second term with deregulation across the federal government, an idea that is popular with businesses.
Mr. Trump, in his address to the Economic Club of New York on Thursday, also renewed his pitch for lowering taxes and raising tariffs on imports. He also made the case for a repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which was President Biden’s signature climate and tax legislation.
The former president said that he would lower the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 15 percent. However, companies would be eligible for that reduction, he said, only if they make their products in the U.S.
Mr. Trump had previously discussed the idea of an efficiency commission but he stopped short of saying he would adopt it, in a live-streamed conversation with Mr. Musk last month on X, the entrepreneur’s social-media platform.
Though Mr. Musk was once a strong supporter of Democrats and a vocal Trump skeptic, he has grown closer with Mr. Trump as his own politics have shifted. As the tech billionaire became more conservative, Mr. Trump and his team began courting his support.
Mr. Musk endorsed Mr. Trump in July, just hours after Mr. Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania. Their closeness led to Mr. Trump’s return to X, which was formerly Twitter and was long Mr. Trump’s favored social-media platform before he was barred in 2021 and launched a competitor.
Mr. Musk has proved a sympathetic partner both to boost Mr. Trump’s views and to attack the Biden administration and Ms. Harris.
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