The comments were directed at New York Times reporting on a purported heated Musk–Rubio dispute.
President Donald Trump on Saturday denied reports that tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed during a recent Cabinet meeting, calling the claims “fake news” and insisting the two have a “great relationship.”
According to the report, Rubio pushed back, pointing out that 1,500 State Department employees had already accepted early buyouts, which should count as workforce reductions. He then asked Musk whether he should rehire those employees just to fire them again, mocking DOGE’s missteps in rehiring workers it had initially let go, per the contested report.
The argument reportedly continued until Trump intervened, urging cooperation. The meeting had been convened following complaints from agency heads and White House officials about DOGE’s aggressive approach to downsizing.
On Friday, Trump dismissed the New York Times report when questioned by reporters in the Oval Office.
“No clash. I was there, you’re just a troublemaker,” he told a journalist who asked about the alleged dispute. “Elon gets along great with Marco, and they’re both doing a fantastic job.”
Trump also praised Rubio’s performance as Secretary of State, while describing Musk as a “unique guy” doing a “fantastic job.”
Amid growing speculation about tensions between Musk and Rubio, Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday to further quash the rumors.
The controversy comes amid weeks of turmoil in Washington, where tens of thousands of federal employees have been abruptly dismissed as part of Trump’s sweeping effort to overhaul the federal workforce. Critics have called the mass terminations reckless, with some firings facing legal challenges.
While there is no official count of the total dismissals, multiple reports estimate that at least 20,000 employees have been fired, while another 75,000 have accepted deferred resignations—bringing the total number of affected workers to nearly 100,000.
“Now that we have my Cabinet in place, I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go. We say the ‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet.’”
Despite these adjustments, Trump reaffirmed his commitment to trimming excess in the bureaucracy, telling reporters after the meeting that the 2.3 million-strong federal workforce remains “out of control.”
He urged his Cabinet members to take the lead on downsizing, but added that Musk and DOGE would step in if necessary.
“If they can cut, it’s better,“ Trump said. ”And if they don’t cut, then Elon will do the cutting.”
