Elon Musk reportedly obtained right into a heated argument with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and one other Trump administration official throughout an explosive assembly Thursday amongst Cupboard members.
Musk — who spent practically $300 million to place Trump and the Republicans in workplace, however just isn’t himself a member of the Cupboard — furiously berated Rubio in entrance of roughly 20 individuals for having fired “nobody,” in accordance with a New York Instances report revealed Friday.
The billionaire businessman is working with Trump’s newly fashioned Division of Authorities Effectivity to cut back authorities spending and companies. Certainly one of many cuts Musk championed was the U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID), which Rubio reportedly believes falls below his purview.
Rubio, who left his Florida Senate seat to affix Trump’s Cupboard, has reportedly been indignant with Musk for weeks over the hundreds of USAID workers who’ve been informed to pack up their desks.
Rubio accused Musk of being dishonest and famous that greater than 1,500 State Division officers took buyouts to go away their posts. He then derisively requested Musk if he’d prefer to deliver these individuals again so he could make a present of chopping them unfastened once more.
Musk responded by implying Rubio was good for tv appearances and never way more.
Trump reportedly sat by quietly and let the shouting match play out for “an uncomfortable time” earlier than intervening to say Rubio was doing an awesome job.
Previous to that conflict, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy accused Musk of making an attempt to fireside air visitors controllers, regardless of quite a few aviation mishaps which have occurred since Trump returned to energy in January. Musk is alleged to have referred to as that allegation a “lie,” however Duffy insisted in any other case.
When Musk stated lots of the individuals working in management towers have been employed below variety, fairness and inclusion applications — seeming to nod to Trump’s earlier claims that the lethal crash of American Airways Flight 5342 exterior Washington, D.C. was the fault of workers employed below DEI insurance policies — Duffy pushed again once more.
Trump reportedly put an finish to that argument by telling Duffy to rent extra individuals from MIT as a result of they’re “geniuses.”
The president is keen on bragging about his uncle John Trump, who was an MIT professor. Trump boasted throughout a 2024 rally that he has the “same genes … we’re smart people.”
Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth (2nd-R) accompanied by U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks throughout a Cupboard assembly on the White Home on February 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Picture by Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos)
Trump made clear to Cupboard members on Thursday that they, not Musk, resolve on cuts to their departments.
“No clash. I was there,” he informed reporters Friday. “Elon gets along great with Marco and they’re both doing a fantastic job.”
Initially Revealed: March 7, 2025 at 8:59 PM EST
