Trump denies Elon Musk and Marco Rubio clashed in front of him over staff cuts
The US president insisted the billionaire and the top diplomat ‘get along fantastically well’
US President Donald Trump denied on Friday a report that his senior adviser, billionaire Elon Musk, had clashed with Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a White House meeting.
According to The New York Times, Musk argued with Rubio and separately with transportation secretary Sean Duffy during a cabinet meeting chaired by Trump on Thursday.
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.
After the meeting, Trump announced that cuts would continue but with a “scalpel” rather than a “hatchet”, implying that he had taken the opportunity to rein 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 Musk and Rubio “they’re both doing a fantastic job … they both get along fantastically well”.