'You're good on TV', but not much else, Musk to Rubio at combative White House meeting — NYT

The knives are out for Elon Musk. The simmering resentment within US President Donald Trump's inner circle reportedly erupted in a dramatic, high-stakes cabinet meeting on Thursday — one that could reshape the dynamics of power at the highest echelons in Washington.

The New York Times, citing interviews with five people knowledgeable of the events, reported that Marco Rubio was livid during the top-level meeting in the White House headed by Trump.

As Secretary of State, Rubio had tolerated Musk's relentless interference for weeks. But now, across the polished mahogany table of the Cabinet Room, the billionaire was openly ridiculing him.

"You've fired nobody," Musk sneered, his voice cutting through the tense air. "The only person you’ve let go is someone from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)."

Rubio shot back. More than 1,500 State Department officials had taken buyouts. Did that not count? Did Musk expect him to rehire them just to fire them again? His frustration spilled out, his grievances laid bare in front of President Trump and his team. As per Times, Trump sat back, arms folded.

Musk was unfazed. "You’re good on TV," he said, a dismissive smirk on his face, suggesting he was not good at much else.

The tension was electric. The report said that Trump, sensing the moment teetering on chaos, finally intervened. Rubio was doing a "great job," he declared, urging cooperation. But the underlying message was clear — Musk’s unchecked power needed limits. The tech mogul's radical cost-cutting had drawn legal scrutiny, and even Republican lawmakers were beginning to grumble.

The meeting, according to the Times, was the first real sign that Trump was willing to rein Musk in. The billionaire had slashed government agencies with a chainsaw when a scalpel was needed, and cabinet officials were fed up.

Musk’s team had even tried to fire air traffic controllers, a move that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy furiously pushed back against. "I have multiple plane crashes to deal with," Duffy shot at Musk, according to the report. "And your people want me to fire controllers?"

Musk called it a “lie.” Duffy stood his ground. "Give me their names," Musk demanded. "Who was fired?"

Duffy coolly replied: "There are no names — because I stopped it."

As the meeting dragged on, Trump stepped in again. The Federal Aviation Administration, he declared, needed "“geniuses” from MIT. No more bureaucratic hires. The cabinet members reportedly exchanged wary glances. Musk, meanwhile, was already calculating his next move.

Doug Collins, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, raised another thorny issue — Musk’s cuts would gut services for veterans, a core Trump voter base. Even Trump had to agree that a more surgical approach was needed. "Keep the smart ones, get rid of the bad ones," he ruled.

'Scalpel' — not a 'hatchet'

After the meeting, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt painted the discussion as a productive strategy session, though sources within the cabinet suggest it was anything but.

Tensions are still simmering. As the Times notes, Musk remains Trump’s biggest financial backer and controls X, a platform that can make or break political reputations. His influence looms large. But for the first time in Trump's second term, the White House seems ready to push back.

"Most cabinet members did not join the fray. Musk's anger directed at Rubio in particular seemed to catch people in the room by surprise, one person with knowledge of the meeting said," the Times reported.

Another official said that Musk's caustic responses to Duffy and Rubio seemed to deter other cabinet members, many of whom have privately complained about the Musk team, from speaking.

The president later said in a Truth Social post that the Cabinet meeting was "positive", telling Cabinet secretaries to "work with DOGE" on cost-cutting initiatives to retain the "best" and "most productive" people.

"We say the 'scalpel' rather than the 'hatchet.' The combination of them, Elon, DOGE, and other great people will be able to do things at a historic level," Trump wrote.

"You're not supposed to be asking that question ... that's enough" -- Trump gets mad at and shuts down a reporter who tries to ask him about reported clashes between Musk and Rubio pic.twitter.com/yZtzwAZ426

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 7, 2025

Trump plays down clash

Musk and DOGE, entrusted with slashing government expenditures, have faced intense scrutiny in the early days of Trump’s second term.

Their controversial cost-cutting measures — ranging from probing personal data in government databases to executing mass layoffs at federal agencies — have sparked outrage across the US political spectrum.

When a reporter prodded Trump on Friday about the Musk-Rubio showdown, the president tried to play it down.

"No clash. I was there. You're just a troublemaker...Elon gets along great with Marco. They're both doing a fantastic job. There is no clash."

"You're not supposed to be asking that question," Trump added.

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Source: TRT