US President Donald Trump called a meeting of his cabinet secretaries on Thursday to discuss Elon Musk and his efforts to slash government spending and personnel numbers.
It turned heated, according to media reports.
Musk accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio of failing to cut enough staff at the state department, reports the New York Times.
The tech mogul told Rubio he was “good on TV”, according to the newspaper, pointedly skipping any praise of his work as America’s top diplomat.
The billionaire also clashed with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over whether Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) task force had tried to lay off air traffic controllers who were already in short supply in the Federal Aviation Administration, according to the New York Times.
Duffy’s department has been under scrutiny after two US airline crashes since Trump took office in January.
After listening to the back-and-forth, the Republican president reportedly intervened to make clear he still supported Doge, but from now on cabinet secretaries would be in charge and the Musk team would only advise.
A state department spokeswoman told the newspaper Rubio felt the cabinet meeting was an “open and productive discussion”. The White House has not responded to BBC requests for further comment.
The hastily planned gathering could provide evidence that the president has decided to curtail the sweeping power the SpaceX and Tesla boss and his Doge cost-cutting initiative have commanded in the early weeks of his administration.
Trump first commented on the substance of Thursday’s meeting, which was disclosed only in after-the-fact media reports, through a post that evening on his social media site, Truth Social.
He said that he had instructed his secretaries to work with Doge on “cost-cutting measures”.
“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 wrote, adding that they should use a “scalpel” not a “hatchet”.
ReutersJust a few weeks ago, Musk wielded a shiny chainsaw at a conservative conference – a visible symbol of aggressive attempts to slash government spending that have angered Democrats and concerned some officials in the Trump administration.
Musk’s team had sent multiple emails from an official government account to millions of federal workers, encouraging 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 firing – a request some agencies instructed their employees to ignore.
Doge also ordered the dismissal of many newly hired government employees who, because of their “probationary” status, did not have full civil service protections.
Some government agencies have since rescinded these orders because employees deemed essential, such as those who oversee nuclear weapon security, had been affected.
During an Oval Office event on Friday, Trump responded to questions about the cabinet meeting – and reports of its heated exchanges. He insisted there was “no clash”. He praised both Rubio and Musk and said the two got along “great”.
Trump’s Thursday Truth Social post, however, appears to give department heads more authority to push back against Musk.
It also may be an attempt to insulate the Trump administration from lawsuits that allege Musk is wielding too much power for someone who, unlike cabinet secretaries, is not subject to Senate review and confirmation.
Several federal judges overseeing these cases have already expressed concern about Musk’s authority – concerns that may be further fuelled by Trump’s comments during his address to Congress on Tuesday that the billionaire was, in fact, the man in charge of Doge.
Musk and Trump have formed a formidable partnership so far – as the richest man in the world and the most powerful politician in America. Washington has been rife with speculation for months about whether that partnership could ultimately fracture.
Those predictions, however, have usually been followed by renewed signs of comity between the two men.
On Friday night, Musk was seen boarding Air Force One with the president for a flight to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida for the weekend.
The cabinet room dust-up may be the first crack in the foundation – but there is plenty of evidence that Trump still supports Musk’s broader efforts and goals, even if he might prefer he use a scalpel in the days ahead, not a chainsaw.
