President Donald Trump gathered his Cabinet secretaries for a third known meeting Monday morning with Elon Musk in attendance, praising his department leaders for their cost-cutting measures even as he acknowledged they may not be “popular.”
Trump told the room that the cuts had to happen regardless of the political ramifications, saying, “I have no idea how it plays out in the public ... but it's something that has to be done.”
Musk, who is leading the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting initiative, has drawn criticism over his downsizing effort, and the meeting appeared choreographed to highlight its effectiveness and how department heads and Musk were delivering on its mandate.
During the meeting, some Cabinet members heaped support on Musk and DOGE, with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin touting the "incredible" partnership with his department and Attorney General Pam Bondi offering praise for “Elon’s incredible team.”
As reporters entered the Cabinet room, Trump touted the meeting's success before he called on the leaders around the table. “Now what is happening is the numbers are beyond our wildest expectations,” Trump said.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said, "We have had many fraudulent contracts brought to light by Elon.”
Musk, wearing a red “Trump Was Right About Everything” hat, interjected at one point to claim that the Small Business Association had discovered a loan awarded to a "very precocious" baby.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio took notes as other secretaries gave remarks but did not have an opportunity to speak until after a question about the Education Department, when Trump called on him for an update on Ukraine. Rubio, seated beside Trump, responded with praise for his unique leadership.
A senior administration official described the 11 a.m. gathering as a “follow-up on the last DOGE meeting,” in reference to a tense meeting on March 6, when Trump placed limits on Musk’s authority amid backlash to new cuts by DOGE.
During the March 6 meeting, Rubio and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy rebuked Musk for having fired their employees without weighing whether doing so would help or harm their agencies. According to The New York Times, the meeting culminated in an explosive back-and-forth over the cuts between Musk and Rubio.
In a social media post, Trump publicly drew a line around Musk's powers after the back-and-forth between the Cabinet secretaries and Musk, saying that he had instructed the department leaders to work with DOGE when it comes to workforce reductions but that future cuts would be at their discretion. Secretaries could be “very precise” in whom they choose to eliminate from their departments, Trump said in his March 7 post on Truth Social, adding, “We say the ‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet.’”
Trump said follow-up meetings would take place every two weeks, with Monday’s meeting roughly aligning with that timeline. Trump later told reporters in the Oval Office that his directive to his Cabinet members was: “Keep all the people you want, all the people that you need.”
But he indicated that Musk would intervene if the department leaders don’t make sufficient cuts. “If they can cut, it’s better. If they don’t cut, then Elon will do the cutting,” Trump said.
On Friday, he played down the discord a day earlier, which was first reported by The New York Times, saying, “There is no clash.”
The Trump administration faces legal challenges over immigration and is preparing to unveil new tariffs — and Musk continues to draw scrutiny over his role.
On Friday, Trump disputed a report that Musk would receive a briefing on the U.S. military’s plans for a potential conflict with China during a visit to the Pentagon, saying he is “not there for China, and if you ever mentioned China, I think he’d walk out of the room.” Trump insisted the visit was focused on Musk’s DOGE efforts.
At a Feb. 26 Cabinet meeting, the first of Trump's second term, Musk took center stage as he explained DOGE’s work as “a support function for the president and for the agencies and departments to help achieve those savings to effectively find 15% reduction in fraud and waste.”
“He’s sacrificing a lot,” Trump said as he introduced Musk at the meeting. “He’s getting a lot of praise, I’ll tell you, but he’s also getting hit.”
The event occurred shortly after several secretaries appeared to buck the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts by instructing staff members to put aside a directive coming from Musk and his allies that required five-point responses to the question "What did you do last week?"
