Musk, Rubio clashed in front of Trump during Cabinet meeting: Sources

During a hastily arranged Cabinet meeting Thursday at the White House, Elon Musk clashed with top Cabinet officials — particularly Secretary of State Marco Rubio — over the way Rubio has so far approached his management of the department he oversees, multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting told ABC News.

Most Cabinet members around the table were observers, and didn’t weigh in on the spat between Musk and Rubio, which was first reported by the New York Times.

Musk accused Rubio of not firing anyone in his department, and Rubio said that was not true, given the agency had more than 1,000 employees take buyouts, sources told ABC News.

Trump observed the back and forth before interjecting and telling Rubio he was doing a good job, according to sources.

ABC News previously reported that during this meeting Trump reminded his Cabinet that they are in charge of the agencies they lead, not Musk.

The State Department didn’t immediately return messages to ABC News for comment.

The episode represents somewhat of a breaking point in the tense relationship Musk has had with Trump’s Cabinet.

Multiple members of Trump’s Cabinet have privately expressed frustration for weeks over the way Musk has approached cuts to the federal government and directives he and his DOGE team have given to all government employees.

Trump was asked about the alleged clash Friday during an unrelated event at the White Hosue and said, “there is no clash.” He added that Rubio and Musk “get along fantastically well” and “they’re both doing a fantastic job.”