"The country's going bankrupt" - When Elon Musk's alarming prophecy about consequences of America's $36 trillion-plus national debt shocked Joe Rogan

Speaking to Joe Rogan, Elon Musk notably made a foreboding prophecy regarding the danger of the United States of America's mammoth national debt. Musk's warning appeared to shock the American podcaster amid their detailed discussion about the nation's future.

As reported by Forbes in late 2024, the U.S. federal government's fiscal year ended on Sept. 30, 2024. It was noted that the national debt and fiscal-year deficit were rising. The federal spending was $6.75 trillion and revenue was listed as $4.9 trillion. As such, the budget deficit was more than $1.8 trillion. Also, the U.S. national debt was deemed to be nearly $36 trillion.

Forbes recently reported that, at the end of 2024, the U.S. national debt was around $36.22 trillion. Well, several Elon Musk supporters have suggested that the billionaire would salvage America and its economy.They pointed out that Musk will play an important role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) section in the Trump-Vance administration.

On the Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) podcast's episode #2223 in November 2024, Elon Musk spoke to Joe Rogan and suggested that DOGE. would drastically change the government. Musk has consistently hinted at utilizing private sector practices to revitalize the public sector for greater efficiency.

Musk implied that it'd entail laying off many employees from various government agencies, albeit with decent severance packages. He believes many of those agencies and jobs are unnecessary. Cautioning that excessive government spending has undermined and could annihilate the U.S. economy, Musk stated:

"They're all these fake jobs, basically. And that doesn't make sense. So, look, we gotta do this. The country's going bankrupt. If we don't take action, dollar's going to be worth nothing. And the interest payments which are already 23 percent of all government income -- income taxes, tariffs, and everything -- is just going to pay interest right now."

"And that number is continually rising. So if we don't do something, the entire government budget will be paying interest. There won't be money for anything. No, there won't be money for social security. There won't be money for Medicare; nothing. That's where we're headed. That's what bankruptcy means," he added.

Rogan replied:

"Yeah. That's such an insane concept."

Check out Elon Musk's comments below (2:16:00-2:20:25):

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Elon Musk reaffirmed his stance on potential of DOGE

Elon Musk and fellow billionaire, Vivek Ramaswamy, will together helm the newly-formed DOGE entity in the U.S. government.

They've vowed to bring positive changes via the department under the Trump-Vance administration which replaces the Democratic Party's Biden-Harris administration. Furthermore, Joe Rogan hailed Musk for pioneering DOGE, which went from a meme to a legitimate government agency.

In the aftermath of Trump's victory in November, Elon Musk took to X (a platform he's owned since 2022) and reaffirmed his stance about DOGE. The 53-year-old wrote:

"Starting to feel like The @DOGE has real potential"