Over the last 16 years, Musk's business deals with the government total nearly $20 billion, according to federal contracting data.

Musk has emerged as a prominent member of Trump's inner circle. Tesla has lobbied for electric vehicle subsidies and other benefits over the years.

Elon Musk wants to gamify the act of cutting government spending — and experts in communications and marketing say it's a savvy strategy to get people to pay attention to a dry subject. The Tesla CEO said this week that he planned to post a public "leaderboard for the most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars.