By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Monday denied reports of a heated exchange between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk regarding widespread federal workforce cuts during a recent White House meeting.
Trump addressed the matter on his social media platform, Truth Social, he posted “Elon and Marco have a great relationship. Any statement other than that is fake news!!!”
The media report claimed that during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Musk, the administration’s cost-cutting chief, criticized Rubio for failing to implement significant staff reductions at the State Department. Musk reportedly accused Rubio of firing “nobody.”
Rubio reportedly pointed out that over 1,500 State Department officials had recently opted for early retirement through buyouts. He sarcastically asked Musk if he wanted those employees rehired just to be fired again.
According to media when asked about the reported clash, Trump dismissed the claims, stated “No clash, I was there. Elon gets along great with Marco, and they’re both doing a fantastic job. There is no clash.”
Trump also defended his administration’s strategy on federal job cuts, vowing to use a “scalpel” rather than a “hatchet” in reducing the federal workforce — a response to growing concerns over the aggressive layoffs in recent weeks.
News media reported that some Cabinet members had expressed concerns to the White House regarding Musk’s “ready, fire, aim” approach to job cuts.
Department of Government Efficiency DOGE headed by Musk, began its work in late January, over 30,000 US federal employees have reportedly been laid off.
The White House stated that 75,000 federal employees had accepted a “buyout” plan, offered 8 months of salary for “deferred resignation.”
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