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U.S. President Donald Trump with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Washington, D.C.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump denied on Friday (March 7, 2025) a report that his senior advisor, billionaire Elon Musk, had clashed with Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a White House meeting.
According to The New York Times, Mr. Musk argued with Mr. Rubio and separately with transportation secretary Sean Duffy during Thursday’s cabinet meeting chaired by Mr. Trump.
Mr. Musk is leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a drive to slash costs and cut jobs across government departments, reportedly leading to tensions with department heads.
Rein Musk in
After the meeting, Mr. Trump announced that cuts would continue but with a “scalpel” rather than a “hatchet”, implying that he had taken the opportunity to rein Mr. Musk in.
But, asked by reporters on Friday about the reported dispute, the president dismissed it, declaring: “No clash. I was there.”
He went on to insist of Mr. Musk and Mr. Rubio “they’re both doing a fantastic job … they both get along fantastically well.”
Musk criticises Rubio
According to the Times report Mr. Musk scorned Mr. Rubio’s cost-cutting record at the State Department, accusing him of having fired “nobody” in the administration’s first 45 days.
Mr. Rubio countered that 1,500 State Department officials had accepted early retirement, and sarcastically asked whether he should hire them back just to sack them again more spectacularly.
In another exchange, Mr. Duffy accused DOGE of having tried to sack vital air traffic controllers right as he deals with the aftermath of several plane crashes, prompting Mr. Musk to accuse him of a “lie”, again according to the New York Times.
Trump intervenes
Mr. Trump reportedly intervened to halt the argument and suggest that henceforth the controllers be hired from the “geniuses” studying at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Since coming to office, Mr. Trump’s administration has sacked or announced the departure of tens of thousands of federal employees in a scorched-earth efficiency drive.
Several U.S. media have reported friction between Mr. Musk and senior officials, who accuse his young crew of DOGE officials — recruited from Silicon Valley — of exceeding their authority.
Published – March 08, 2025 07:49 am IST
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After reports of Elon Musk-Marco Rubio clash, Trump denies it
