Another White House Showdown? How Trump Reacted to Alleged Musk-Rubio Clash Over DOGE Cuts- wna24

Washington: An intense clash erupted during a White House meeting on Thursday between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and DOGE Chief Elon Musk.

According to reports, President Donald Trump witnessed the escalating fight between members of the administration over the level of staff cuts that Rubio had executed.

The fiery exchange broke out when Trump told his Cabinet heads that they, not Musk, had the final say on staffing and policy at their agencies.

Musk, who was assigned by Trump to slash bureaucracy spending and reduce the federal workforce, accused Rubio of having fired “nobody” and resisting Musk’s push for downsizing his department’s staff.

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According to a Reuters report, Rubio pushed back, saying 1,500 State Department employees had taken early retirement buyouts, and he also sarcastically asked whether Musk wanted him to rehire all those people just so he could make a show of firing them again.

Rubio was reportedly already frustrated with the billionaire advisor for shutting down the United States Agency for International Development, which was under his oversight.

The Reuters report also added that the meeting was convened after complaints about Musk’s aggressive approach towards agency heads were made to top White House officials, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. The White House Office of Legislative Affairs has been inundated with calls in recent days from frustrated Republican members of Congress from across the country, some of whom have faced anger from constituents at home.

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After the cabinet meeting, US President Trump denied the reports of a rift on Friday when asked about it. He also called out a reporter for being a troublemaker.

“No clash, I was there, you’re just a troublemaker,” he told a reporter who asked about the report.  
“Elon gets along great with Marco and they’re both doing a fantastic job.”

Trump also stated: “Marco has done unbelievably well as Secretary of State. And Elon is a unique guy and has done a fantastic job.”

Following the address, the president took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to call the meeting a “positive” one. He highlighted that it is important to reduce levels and only keep productive people.

“We just had a meeting with most of the Secretaries, Elon, and others, and it was a very positive one,” the president said.

“It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people. 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. We say the scalpel rather than the hatchet,” he added.