It’s fair to say Elon Musk has faced some unflattering headlines of late. It was just last month, for example, when The Wall Street Journal reported, “The $13 billion that Elon Musk borrowed to buy Twitter has turned into the worst merger-finance deal for banks since the 2008-09 financial crisis.”

The conspiratorial billionaire’s preferred presidential candidate nevertheless seems eager to reward him with an influential position. NBC News reported:

Former President Donald Trump announced Thursday that if re-elected, he plans to adopt billionaire Elon Musk’s plan for a government efficiency commission to cut federal spending, adding that Musk has agreed to lead the commission “if he has the time.” The announcement came as the former president delivered remarks before members of the Economic Club of New York in Midtown Manhattan, where he outlined a seven-pillar economic plan.

“I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms,” the Republican nominee said, noting that the panel was Musk’s idea.

As part of the same remarks, the former president boasted that the commission will save taxpayers “trillions of dollars,” by creating “an action plan to totally eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months.”

For emphasis, Trump again told his audience, “Trillions. It’s massive.”

At this point, we could talk at length about the fact that Musk has no meaningful experience in auditing, making him a curious choice for such a “commission.” We could also note that the billionaire has no background in federal budgeting or appropriations (except for receiving taxpayer money to help give one of his businesses a boost).

We could even spend some time asking why Trump, during his four years in the White House, made no meaningful effort to identify or address the “fraud and improper payments” that he apparently believes are rampant throughout the federal government. (Somehow, we’re also supposed to believe that Musk will succeed where GOP-led congressional budget committees failed.)

But after seeing the remarks, I also found myself stuck on the word “trillions.”

The federal government’s budget for the most recent fiscal year was roughly $6 trillion. To hear Trump tell it, Musk’s “government efficiency commission” will not only uncover waste that heretofore has gone unidentified, his panel will also sketch out “drastic” reforms.

That leads to some questions that deserve pre-election answers.

How many Americans will be hurt by these “drastic” cuts? How, exactly, will Trump and his pal generate “trillions” in savings without gutting Social Security and Medicare? Can the GOP candidate point to any specific programs and/or departments — literally, any at all — that should expect to be slashed?

Or is this just another example — the latest in a series — of the former president looking to reward a political ally while making ridiculous promises to voters that he’ll barely try to fulfill?