During an extraordinary Cabinet Room meeting, simmering resentment over the billionaire’s unbridled authority erupted. The president acted swiftly to control Mr. Musk.
Marco Rubio felt furious. The secretary of state was sitting next to the president in the White House’s Cabinet Room, listening to the wealthiest man in the world launch a barrage of criticism.
Elon Musk was letting Mr. Rubio have it while seated diagonally across the circular mahogany table, accusing him of not slashing his staff.
After telling Mr. Rubio that he had fired “nobody,” Mr. Musk mockingly added that it was possible that the only person he had let go was a member of his Department of Government Efficiency staff.
Since his team essentially shut down the United States organization for International Development, a whole organization that was purportedly within Mr. Rubio’s authority, Mr. Rubio had been secretly incensed at Mr. Musk for weeks. However, in front of President Trump and around 20 other people, during Thursday’s emergency cabinet meeting—details of which have not yet been made public—Mr. Rubio vented his frustrations.
Mr. Rubio claimed that Mr. Musk was lying. What about the 1,500+ State Department employees that retired early due to buyouts? Were they not considered layoffs? “Does Mr. Musk want me to rehire all those people just so I can make a show of firing them again?” he questioned sarcastically. He then presented his comprehensive ideas for restructuring the State Department.
Mr. Musk, unimpressed, informed Mr. Rubio that he was “good on TV,” with the obvious implication that he was not good for much else. The president reclined back in his chair, arms folded, as though he were watching a game of tennis.
Mr. Trump ultimately stepped in to defend Mr. Rubio, saying he was doing a “great job,” after the disagreement had gone on for an awkward while. The president remarked that Mr. Rubio has a lot on his plate. He has an agency to manage, travels constantly, and appears on TV. Therefore, cooperation is all that is required.
Following the hectic first several weeks of Mr. Trump’s second term, the encounter may have been a turning point. It produced the first meaningful indicator that Mr. Trump was prepared to impose some restrictions on Mr. Musk, whose actions have been the focus of multiple lawsuits and raised worries among Republican senators, some of whom have voiced their grievances to the president personally.
Cabinet members have been disappointed by the chainsaw approach to overthrowing the government and the inconsistent coordination, but they generally agree with the idea of what Mr. Musk set out to do: cutting waste, fraud, and abuse in government.
The meeting on Thursday, which was unexpectedly set for Wednesday night, demonstrated that Mr. Trump was aware of the mounting grievances. He praised Mr. Musk and his cabinet secretaries in an attempt to appease both sides. (At least one was absent, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has had unpleasant interactions with Mr. Musk’s team.) The president stated unequivocally that he still agreed with the Musk initiative’s goals. However, he asserted that it was time to adopt a slightly more sophisticated strategy.
He stated that the secretaries would now be in charge and that the Musk team would merely provide advice.
What the meeting’s long-term effects will be remains unknown. Mr. Musk continues to be Mr. Trump’s largest source of political funding; this week, his super PAC ran $1 million worth of advertisements saying, “Thank you, President Trump.” Additionally, his control over the social media platform X has made cabinet secretaries and administration employees fear that he will publicly criticize them.
If nothing else, the meeting exposed the conflicts inside Mr. Trump’s staff, and once it ended, word of the acrimonious altercations swiftly circulated among cabinet agencies’ top brass. Five individuals with knowledge of the events were interviewed for this story.
In a social media post following the meeting, Mr. Trump made reference to Mr. Musk’s scorched-earth strategy when he stated that the next stage of his plan to reduce the federal workforce would be carried out using a “scalpel” rather than a “hatchet.”
After Mr. Trump publicly criticized him for his untidy look, Mr. Musk came to Thursday’s meeting wearing a coat and tie instead of his typical T-shirt. He defended himself by claiming that his results spoke for themselves and that he had three firms with a market capitalization of tens of billions of dollars.
However, he soon found himself at odds with cabinet colleagues.
Mr. Musk and Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, argued back and forth over the condition of the Federal Aviation Administration’s aircraft tracking equipment and what kind of remedy was required just before the heated exchange with Mr. Rubio. The secretary of commerce, Howard Lutnick, rushed in to defend Mr. Musk.
According to Mr. Duffy, Mr. Musk’s team’s youthful employees were attempting to fire air traffic controllers. How should I proceed? “I said,” Mr. Duffy said. Your folks want me to fire air traffic controllers when I already had to deal with several jet crashes?
Mr. Duffy was informed by Mr. Musk that his claim was a “lie.” Mr. Duffy, who had heard it directly from them, maintained that it wasn’t. “Give me their names,” Mr. Musk continued, inquiring as to who had been let go. Name them for me.
Mr. Duffy claimed that since he had prevented their termination, there were no names. Mr. Musk also maintained that control towers were occupied by individuals hired under diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. During the extended back and forth, Mr. Musk stated that Mr. Duffy had his phone number and should call him if he had any concerns. Mr. Duffy pushed back, and Mr. Musk did not provide any additional information.
Why did Trump just create a strategic reserve for cryptocurrency?
As the conversation came to an end, Mr. Trump informed Mr. Duffy that he needed to hire M.I.T. personnel to work as air traffic controllers. According to him, these air traffic controllers must be “geniuses.”
Of all the cabinet secretaries, Doug Collins, the secretary of veterans affairs, has been facing one of the most delicate political issues. Thousands of veterans, a significant group and a fundamental component of the Trump support, will be impacted by Mr. Musk’s layoffs. Mr. Collins emphasized that they shouldn’t split off everyone from the V.A. with a blunt instrument. They had to approach it strategically. In agreement with Mr. Collins, Mr. Trump stated that they should keep the intelligent people and fire the bad ones.
“As President Trump stated, this was a great and productive meeting amongst members of his team to discuss cost-cutting measures and staffing across the federal government,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement in response to a request for comment from The New York Times. To help President Trump fulfill his pledge to increase the effectiveness of our government, everyone is cooperating.
“Secretary Rubio viewed the meeting as an open and fruitful discussion with a dynamic team that is united in achieving the same goal: making America great again,” said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
The brightest and most productive government employees should be retained while efficiency and bureaucracy are reduced, as President Trump has stated, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs official. To do this, V.A. is collaborating with DOGE and the administration as a whole.
Mr. Duffy said the cabinet meeting was successful and commended Mr. Trump and the work being done by Mr. Musk’s team in a post on X on Friday. Mr. Trump’s “approach of a scalpel versus a hatchet and better coordination between Secretaries and DOGE is the right approach to revolutionizing the way our government is run,” he continued, adding that “the FAA’s DEI Department was eliminated on day two.”
Trump places additional restrictions on Elon Musk
Despite his later assertion on X that the cabinet meeting was “very productive,” Mr. Musk appeared much less enthusiastic in the room. He vigorously defended himself by reminding the cabinet secretaries that he had founded several billion-dollar businesses from the bottom up and had some experience selecting quality candidates.
The majority of cabinet members stayed out of the conflict. One individual with knowledge of the discussion claimed that everyone in the room appeared taken aback by Mr. Musk’s ire, which was specifically directed at Mr. Rubio. Another individual claimed that other cabinet members, many of whom have privately voiced their displeasure with the Musk team, appeared to be discouraged from speaking by Mr. Musk’s scathing remarks directed at Mr. Duffy and Mr. Rubio.
However, it is unclear how long this new arrangement will endure.