Elon Musk and Foreign Minister Rubio are said to have clashed

At a meeting in the White House, according to a media report, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Tech billionaire and presidential advisor Elon Musk clashed. As the “New York Times” reported, the twist is said to have ignited at a cabinet session on Thursday at the Musks allegation that Rubio had not released any staff in his ministry. Musk also argued with Transport Minister Sean Duffy.

Trump denied the report when asked by a journalist. Musk and Foreign Minister Rubio get together “fabulously well”, he added.

After the meeting, Trump had first criticized the first criticism of Musk’s deployment in the US federal authorities. Musk should proceed with the “scalpel” instead of the “ax”, Trump wrote in his online service Truth Social.

As the “New York Times” reported, Musk was previously initially accused of “nobody” fired in his ministry since Trump’s taking office. Rubio replied that 1,500 employees had already retired prematurely – and asked Musk sarcastically whether he should stop these people again, in order to then relieve them of them.

Minister of Transport Duffy accused Musk at the meeting of the newspaper that the factual department for state efficiency (Doge) had tried to dismiss air traffic controllers. Air traffic controllers are of central importance for the safety of air traffic, in the United States there have been several flight accidents in the past few weeks. Musk replied Duffy, his accusation was a “lie”, wrote the “New York Times”.

Trump then intervened in the dispute, the newspaper wrote. The President suggested that new air traffic controllers should be found among the “geniuses” in the future that studied at the prestigious Technical University of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Previously, several US media had already reported on tensions between musk and high-ranking employees of the government and the federal administration. These accused the Doge employees of exceeding their powers.