Is Trump reining in Musk after a cabinet showdown with secretaries?


Is Trump reining in Musk after a cabinet showdown with secretaries?

Published 7 March 2025 US President Donald Trump called a meeting of his cabinet secretaries on Thursday to discuss Elon Musk and his efforts to slash government spending and personnel numbers. It turned heated, according to media reports. Musk accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio of failing to cut enough staff at the state department, reports the New York Times. The tech mogul told Rubio he was "good on TV", according to the newspaper, pointedly skipping any praise of his work as America's top diplomat. The billionaire also clashed with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over whether Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) task force had tried to lay off air traffic controllers who were already in short supply in the Federal Aviation Administration, according to the New York Times. Duffy's department has been under scrutiny after two US airline crashes since Trump took office in January.