Trump denies Rubio-Musk clash over federal workforce cuts

9/3/2025 16:53

U.S. President Donald Trump denied reports of an explosive clash between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk over sweeping federal workforce cuts during a recent cabinet meeting, The New York Times reported on Friday.



During the Thursday cabinet meeting, a tense discussion began when Trump's cost-cutting chief Musk criticized Rubio for not implementing significant staff reductions at the State Department, with Musk accusing Rubio of firing "nobody," said the report.



Rubio, in response, highlighted that more than 1,500 State Department officials have recently took early retirement in buyouts, asking whether Musk wanted him to rehire those employees, so he could make a show of firing them again, it said.



However, Trump dispelled reports of clash between Rubio and Musk when pressed by a reporter Friday in the Oval Office, CNN reported.



"No clash, I was there," Trump said, "Elon gets along great with Marco, and they're both doing a fantastic job. There is no clash."



Trump vowed on Thursday to use a "scalpel" rather than a "hatchet" in federal workforce cuts, a statement made amid growing dissatisfaction and criticism of the aggressive layoffs in recent weeks.