A meeting between President Donald Trump's Cabinet Thursday turned tense, according to the New York Times. However, when asked about it by a journalist, the president denied the report and called him a "troublemaker."
The meeting was scheduled late on Wednesday and convened in the Cabinet Room of the White House the following day. Five sources supposedly close to the matter claimed a squabble erupted between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk.
The Tesla billionaire was angry at Rubio for firing "nobody" as Musk continues to cut government waste. He claimed Rubio was "good on TV" which insinuated that he was all show and no action while Musk is slashing government personnel.
Trump reportedly came to Rubio's defense, stating that he's done a "great job" and that he has many competing responsibilities. This situation was recounted in the Times, which made it seem like a monumental shift had taken place.
The media was all ready to run with this salacious story about in-fighting at the White House. A reporter from NBC News asked Trump about what the Times claimed about the Cabinet meeting.
The Hill reported that the press was at the Oval Office on Thursday for a meeting about the possibility of the 2026 World Cup being held in the U.S. As soon as the reporter asked the question, Trump shut it down.
“No clash, I was there, you’re just a troublemaker. And you’re not supposed to be asking that question because we’re talking about the World Cup," Trump told the reporter.
"Elon gets along great with Marco, and they’re both doing a fantastic job. There is no clash," Trump insisted. The clip was widely shared to social media, including a post from commentator Benny Johnson on X, formerly Twitter, Friday.
🚨President Trump just blasted an NBC reporter for lying about a “clash” between Elon Musk and Marco Rubio at a cabinet meeting:
“No clash. I was there. You’re just a troublemaker.”
pic.twitter.com/5grlXgu4b1— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 7, 2025
The leftist media has created a bogeyman out of Musk and his work with DOGE. While the American people see his single-minded mission of cutting waste as a good thing, the left has demonized the SpaceX mogul.
Perhaps that's why the narrative about a row at the Cabinet meeting was just too good to pass up. Even if there's some truth to the fact that there was a disagreement, it's clear that Trump is in control of all that's happening.
As the Times reported, Trump promised that his administration would use a "scalpel" instead of a "hatchet" with its cuts, demonstrating that Musk's powers are limited. Trump also praised Musk and Rubio to the press before signaling that personnel issues are up to the Cabinet members.
"They both get along fantastically well. Marco has done unbelievably as secretary of State. And Elon is a unique guy, he’s done a fantastic job," Trump said. "I want the Cabinet members, go first, keep all the people you want. Everybody that you need," Trump added.
There isn't an administration that hasn't seen its share of internal conflict. It's unclear who present would have leaked the exchange between Musk and Rubio or whether it even happened, but the spinning of the narrative is all par for the course from mainstream news outlets.
