US President Donald Trump held his first cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday, February 25. President Trump asked Elon Musk, who was wearing a black "Make America Great Again" baseball cap, to stand up and talk about the controversial program of his so-called
Department of Government Efficiency
. The meeting -- and an hour-long question and answer session with media brought in under new White House rules controlling which reporters get access to Trump.
Taking the stage, Elon Musk -- treated as almost a star at Donald Trump's first cabinet meeting -- reiterated his Bankruptcy warning for America. President Trump asked Tesla CEO to Elon Musk to speak about his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). "If we don't do this, America will go bankrupt," the world's richest man told cabinet members at the White House, adding that he was "taking a lot of flak, and getting a lot of death threats by the way."
Elon Musk dominated the cabinet meeting
The person who dominated the meeting was not President Donlad Trump or a cabinet member, but Elon Musk. At the meeting, Tesla CEO Elon Musk defended his efforts to slash
federal government jobs
. Trump offered Musk an extraordinary sign of support by inviting the billionaire to tout his work to the presidential cabinet. "Is anybody unhappy with Elon? If they are we'll throw them out of here," Trump said. "Some disagree a little bit, but I will tell you for the most part I think everyone's not only happy, they're thrilled."
President Trump had earlier downplayed reports of tensions over his dominance, posting on his social media platform Truth Social: "ALL CABINET MEMBERS ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON."
Later on Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order directing agencies to work with DOGE to review and terminate all "unnecessary" contracts and instructing the General Services Administration, which manages the government's real estate, to create a plan for disposing of any unneeded property.
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