Elon Musk responds to TIME Magazine's 'to-do list' for him that includes flying to Mars

Elon Musk has spoken of slashing $2 trillion from the US budget.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has refuted the viral "to-do list" that appeared on the cover of TIME magazine's December edition, dismissing it as fictional. Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter) and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, clarified on Thursday that he had no involvement in creating the checklist and used the opportunity to reiterate his overarching mission: making humanity a multiplanetary species.

"To be clear, I have not done any media interviews, and this is not actually my checklist. I am trying to make life multiplanetary to maximize the probable lifespan of consciousness. Some of the items below are needed for that," Musk posted on X, addressing the controversy.

The TIME Cover That Sparked Debate

TIME magazine's cover featured Musk with a provocative headline, "Citizen Musk: What’s Next on His To-Do List?" accompanied by a checklist of supposed accomplishments and ambitions. The list included notable achievements such as "Electric Vehicles," "Become richest man," "Buy Twitter," "Launch rocket," "Bring rocket back," and "Implant human brain chip." It also featured unchecked goals like "Slash $2 trillion" and "Fly to Mars."

To be clear, I have not done any media interviews and this is not actually my checklist.I am trying to make life multiplanetary to maximize the probable lifespan of consciousness. Some of the items below are needed for that. https://t.co/Sv0N3Z5U4l Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2024

The new department would bring in external expertise and work with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget.

Musk has said he is targeting $2 trillion in cuts from the federal government's $7 trillion budget.