Elon Musk reportedly got into a heated argument with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and another Trump administration official during an explosive meeting Thursday among Cabinet members.
Musk — who spent nearly $300 million to put Trump and the Republicans in office, but is not himself a member of the Cabinet — furiously berated Rubio in front of roughly 20 people for having fired “nobody,” according to a New York Times report published Friday.
The billionaire businessman is working with Trump’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency to reduce government spending and services. One of many cuts Musk championed was the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which Rubio reportedly believes falls under his purview.
Rubio, who left his Florida Senate seat to join Trump’s Cabinet, has reportedly been angry with Musk for weeks over the thousands of USAID employees who’ve been told to pack up their desks.
Rubio accused Musk of being dishonest and noted that more than 1,500 State Department officials took buyouts to leave their posts. He then derisively asked Musk if he’d like to bring those people back so he can make a show of cutting them loose again.
Musk responded by implying Rubio was good for television appearances and not much more.
Trump reportedly sat by quietly and let the shouting match play out for “an uncomfortable time” before intervening to say Rubio was doing a great job.
Prior to that clash, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy accused Musk of trying to fire air traffic controllers, despite numerous aviation mishaps that have occurred since Trump returned to power in January. Musk is said to have called that allegation a “lie,” but Duffy insisted otherwise.
When Musk said many of the people working in control towers were hired under diversity, equity and inclusion programs — seeming to nod to Trump’s previous claims that the deadly crash of American Airlines Flight 5342 outside Washington, D.C. was the fault of employees hired under DEI policies — Duffy pushed back again.
Trump reportedly put an end to that argument by telling Duffy to hire more people from MIT because they’re “geniuses.”
The president is fond of bragging about his uncle John Trump, who was an MIT professor. Trump boasted during a 2024 rally that he has the “same genes … we’re smart people.”
Trump made clear to Cabinet members on Thursday that they, not Musk, decide on cuts to their departments.
Following the allegedly tense meeting, Trump denied there has any bad blood being Rubio and Musk.
“No clash. I was there,” he told reporters Friday. “Elon gets along great with Marco and they’re both doing a fantastic job.”
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