Elon Musk and Marco Rubio butt heads; Trump downplays it

Marco Rubio and Elon Musk reportedly clashed in a way that’s drawn significant attention, particularly within the context of the Trump administration, where Rubio serves as Secretary of State and Musk holds an influential advisory role as co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The flashpoint seems to have occurred during a Cabinet meeting last Thursday at the White House. Musk, tasked with slashing government spending and waste through DOGE alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, accused Rubio of failing to cut enough staff at the State Department.

He reportedly told Rubio he’d fired “nobody,” even sarcastically suggesting Rubio might have only fired someone from Musk’s own team. Rubio didn’t take it lying down. He shot back, pointing out that over 1,500 State Department employees had taken early retirement buyouts, which he argued should count as staff reductions. He even mocked Musk, asking if he should rehire those people just to fire them again for show—perhaps a jab at Musk’s blunt, sometimes chaotic approach to cuts elsewhere.

The roots of this clash go deeper than just that meeting. Rubio had reportedly been privately furious with Musk for weeks, especially since Musk’s DOGE team effectively shuttered the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an agency under Rubio’s State Department purview. This move blindsided Rubio and other Cabinet officials, who, while supportive of reducing government waste in theory, bristled at Musk’s “hacksaw” tactics—aggressive, uncoordinated cuts that didn’t always align with their plans. Rubio, for his part, laid out a detailed reorganization strategy for the State Department during the meeting, trying to assert control over his domain, but Musk’s criticism undermined that.

President Trump was present at this meeting, watching the back-and-forth unfold with about 20 others in the Cabinet Room. Sources say he eventually stepped in, praising Rubio and telling him he was doing a good job, while also reminding the room that Cabinet secretaries—not Musk—run their agencies. This intervention might suggest Trump leaned toward Rubio in the moment, though he later publicly downplayed the whole thing.

Yesterday (Saturday), when an NBC reporter asked about the “clash,” Trump dismissed it, calling it fake news and insisting Musk and Rubio “get along fantastically well” and are “both doing a fantastic job.” Still, the detailed reporting from outlets like The New York Times and ABC News, based on multiple sources, suggests there was real friction.

The tension isn’t just personal—it’s structural. Musk’s DOGE role gives him and Ramaswamy outsized influence to push drastic government downsizing, often clashing with Cabinet officials who want more say in how their agencies are reshaped. Rubio’s not alone in this frustration—Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reportedly sparred with Musk over air traffic controller cuts in the same meeting. Posts on X and news reports hint this has been brewing since late February, when DOGE started blocking State Department funding decisions, possibly including aid to Ukraine, which Rubio oversees as Secretary of State.

This feud’s gotten cultural traction too. Saturday Night Live aired a sketch on March 8, 2025, with James Austin Johnson as Trump trying to mediate between Mike Myers’ Musk and Marcello Hernandez’s Rubio. The skit played up Musk’s influence—joking about his $300 million in campaign contributions to Trump—and Rubio’s irritation, with Rubio complaining about Musk’s “total access” to government decisions. It’s satire, but it reflects the public buzz around this rift.

What’s the bigger picture? Rubio, a seasoned politician and former senator, likely sees Musk—an outsider billionaire with no formal government post—as overstepping. Musk, used to running Tesla and SpaceX with near-absolute control, might view Rubio as too slow or entrenched. Their clash could signal broader power struggles in Trump’s administration, where Musk’s informal sway (bolstered by his wealth and proximity to Trump) rubs up against traditional Cabinet authority.

Whether they’ll find common ground—say, on something like Rubio’s old push to end Daylight Saving Time, which Musk might back—or keep butting heads depends on how Trump balances them going forward.