By Helen Coster
(Reuters) -Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump plans on Thursday to throw his weight behind a government efficiency commission recommended by billionaire Elon Musk, while reiterating his support for a suite of other economic proposals that he has outlined on the trail, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In a speech at the New York Economic Club, scheduled for noon local time (1600 GMT), the former president will also defend his support for broadening tariffs and he will again pledge to support crypto-currencies should he win the Nov. 5 election, according to the newspaper.
The former president has been discussing the idea of a government efficiency commission with aides for months, the Washington Post reported earlier this week. This, however, will be first time he will publicly endorse the idea, which Musk, a major donor and prominent supporter, has publicly advocated for.
The commission would conduct “a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government” and make “recommendations for drastic reform,” Trump will say, according to the Journal.
Musk on Thursday signaled openness to serving on the body.
“I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises,” Musk wrote on X. “No pay, no title, no recognition is needed.”
On the trail, Trump has frequently blamed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, the U.S. vice president, for the rise in prices of everyday goods during President Joe Biden’s term in office.
While headline inflation has slowed in the past two years, many U.S. consumers are still unhappy with the higher prices they have to pay for food, gas and other goods, according to public opinion polls.
Trump is seen as a more competent steward of the economy by most voters. But his advantage over Harris on the issue is eroding, surveys show.
(Reporting by Helen Coster and Gram Slattery, Editing by William Maclean, Ross Colvin)
