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US President Donald Trump held a cabinet meeting on Thursday to discuss Elon Musk and his efforts to reduce government spending and personnel. According to media reports, the meeting became heated.
Musk criticized Secretary of State Marco Rubio for not cutting enough staff at the State Department, as reported by the New York Times. He told Rubio that he was "good on TV," deliberately omitting any praise for his performance as the nation’s top diplomat.
The billionaire also had a disagreement with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy regarding whether Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) task force attempted to lay off air traffic controllers, who are already in short supply at the Federal Aviation Administration. Duffy's department has been under
scrutiny following two airline crashes in the US since Trump took office in January.
After witnessing the exchange, President Trump reportedly stepped in to express his continued support for Doge, but clarified that cabinet secretaries would now be in charge and that Musk's team would only serve in an advisory capacity. A State Department spokesperson stated that Rubio found the cabinet meeting to be an "open and productive discussion." The White House has not yet responded to BBC requests for further comment.
The hastily planned gathering may indicate that the president has decided to limit the extensive power that Musk and his Doge cost-cutting initiative have had during the early weeks of his administration. Trump first commented on the meeting through a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, revealing the details only after the fact. He indicated that he had instructed his secretaries to work with Doge on "cost-cutting measures," stating, "As the secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain and who will go." He emphasized that they should use a "scalpel" rather than a "hatchet."
Just a few weeks ago, Musk wielded a shiny chainsaw at a conservative conference, symbolizing aggressive attempts to reduce government spending. This has angered Democrats and raised concerns among some officials in the Trump administration. Musk's team sent multiple emails from an official government account to millions of federal workers, urging them to accept months of advance pay in exchange for their resignations.
Federal workers were instructed to provide accounts of their weekly accomplishments or risk being fired—a request that some agencies advised their employees to ignore. Additionally, Musk ordered the dismissal of many newly hired government employees who, due to their "probationary" status, lacked full civil service protections. Some agencies have since rescinded these orders because essential employees, such as those overseeing nuclear weapon security, were affected.
In a recent update, here are four significant issues the Trump team tackled this week:
1. What is the role of the Department of Education, and can Trump dismantle it?
2. Trump has paused on tariffs, although they are still viewed as a vital tool.
During an Oval Office event on Friday, Trump addressed questions about a cabinet meeting that featured heated exchanges. He insisted there was "no clash" and praised both Marco Rubio and Musk, stating that the two got along "great." However, a Thursday post on Truth Social appeared to give department heads more authority to push back against Musk. This could also be an attempt to shield the Trump administration from lawsuits alleging that Musk wields too much power, as he isn't subject to Senate review and confirmation like cabinet secretaries are.
Several federal judges overseeing these cases have already expressed concerns about Musk's authority. These worries may be intensified by Trump’s comments during his address to Congress on Tuesday, indicating that Musk was, in fact, in charge of Doge.
So far, Musk and Trump have formed a formidable partnership, with Musk as the richest man in the world and Trump as the most powerful politician in America. There has been considerable speculation for months regarding whether this partnership might eventually fracture, but such predictions have often been followed by renewed signs of camaraderie between the two.
On Friday night, Musk was seen boarding Air Force One with the president for a weekend trip to Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. The recent cabinet room disagreement may mark the first crack in this partnership, but ample evidence suggests Trump still supports Musk's broader efforts and goals, even if he would prefer that Musk employs a more measured approach in the future rather than using a chainsaw.
