Tensions boiled over between Elon Musk and Marco Rubio during a contentious cabinet meeting that was supposed to clarify the authority of the head of DOGE when dealing with cuts at federal agencies, according to reports.

Politico and the New York Times reported on the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, in which President Trump told the heads of federal agencies that Mr. Musk has been tasked with offering recommendations on cuts, but they are the ones in charge of making such decisions. The message came after a rather uncomfortable moment during Mr. Trump’s public Cabinet meeting last week when he gave the department heads the chance to say if they were “unhappy” with Mr. Musk. The president joked that he would “throw them out of here” if they expressed any displeasure.

However, during a closed-door meeting on Thursday, tensions — that the White House repeatedly downplayed — reportedly boiled over when Mr. Musk accused Secretary of State Rubio of firing “nobody.”

Mr. Rubio shot back by noting that 1,500 State Department employees took early retirement buyouts and asked if they counted as layoffs. He then reportedly took a jab at DOGE by asking if the department should hire and then fire them again — referencing repeated incidents of agencies “accidentally” firing workers and then trying to rehire them. 

The insults did not stop there, as Mr. Musk reportedly said the secretary of state is “good on TV,” which was interpreted to suggest that he is not good at his job.

Mr. Trump then intervened to defend Mr. Rubio and say he is doing a “great job.”

The frustration has apparently been felt by multiple Cabinet members, such as the Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, who reportedly had an exasperated exchange with Mr. Musk about the Federal Aviation Administration’s equipment and accused DOGE of trying to lay off air traffic controllers. 

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told the Times, “As President Trump said, this was a great and productive meeting amongst members of his team to discuss cost-cutting measures and staffing across the federal government. Everyone is working as one team to help President Trump deliver on his promise to make our government more efficient.”

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the State Department said Mr. Rubio found the meeting to be “an open and productive discussion with a dynamic team that is united in achieving the same goal: making America great again.”

When Mr. Trump was asked about the report during an event in the Oval Office on Friday, he said, “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.”

“Elon gets along great with Marco, and they’re both doing a fantastic job; there is no clash,” he insisted.