[toomuchtodo]

There are no consequences for lying, so you lie to lever up into the authority and power you're seeking. Once you walk it back, there is no impact, at this level you're not getting fired for lying. You're re-calibrating expectations to reality after you've accomplished your goal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini%27s_law

[techfeathers]

Well, except in this case, don’t they actually want to cut a shot ton maybe even $2 trillion from the budget? This is the kind of lie where Musk doesn’t care and everyone else does but he just said it to get Trump elected. I think Musk wants this, no?

[toomuchtodo]

Musk wants power and control, everything else is a means to accomplish that.