There is the temptation to think of an administration as one with a hive mind in which everyone shares the same goals, agenda, and even thoughts. Too often we forget that there are people involved – and these aren’t just “any” people, they are people with the ego and drive to get to this level in the first place. The inevitable result is infighting and, yes – some backstabbing, all as to be expected. The real fight is in how much can be bottled up and left behind closed doors for all the world to never know. That’s tough stuff because the world also thinks it is in the know when anything comes out, unaware that it’s five percent of the action. What can be known is that there are battles ongoing behind the scenes due to reports now indicating that two of the biggest – and youngest – stars are battling for power within the Trump ecosystem. Marco Rubio and Elon Musk are going at it. Rubio has a bit of an advantage (In this particular context) in that he’s fought these wars before as an extremely young speaker of Florida’s state house, rising up through the U.S. Senate to lead committees, now in one of the most powerful cabinet positions… He also has Trump’s backing, which – actually, may be the only thing relevant in this context.
According to a new report in The New York Times, the confrontation occurred on Thursday in a private cabinet meeting. It does sound like it got heated, even more so than as reported by the dry Times. As brought to us by Mediaite:
“Mr. Rubio had been privately furious with Mr. Musk for weeks.. but in the extraordinary cabinet meeting in front of the president and around 20 others… Mr. Rubio got his grievances off his chest… Mr. Musk was not being truthful, Mr. Rubio said. What about the more than 1,500 State Department officials who took early retirement in buyouts? Didn’t they count as layoffs? He asked, sarcastically, whether Mr. Musk wanted him to rehire all those people just so he could make a show of firing them again…”
Look again at the language. “Furious,” “sarcastically,” and “not being truthful” is a nice way of saying “He’s lying,” which is fairly strong. That is pretty tough stuff, enough to probably make others in the meeting more than a little uncomfortable. Additionally, you have two people fighting but coming at it from almost opposite circumstances. Rubio leads a department of thousands, a department that can’t operate unless it believes it is led by someone who understands them and what they’re trying to do. Musk leads a department of one – essentially, and only has to answer to the president. Perhaps it was for that reason that it sounds as though Musk got a little snarky:
Mr. Musk was unimpressed. He told Mr. Rubio he was “good on TV,” with the clear subtext being that he wasn’t good for much else. Throughout all of this, the president sat back in his chair, arms folded, as if he were watching a tennis match.
Watching two fairly talented people go at it with their strongly held positions isn’t that bad a move for anyone in leadership. Presumably, one hires people counting on them to strongly take positions precisely because there is value in watching them argue things out. Unfortunately for Musk, it sounds as though President Trump had had enough and came to Rubio’s defense:
After the argument dragged on for an uncomfortable time, Mr. Trump finally intervened to defend Mr. Rubio as doing a “great job.” Mr. Rubio has a lot to deal with, the president said. He is very busy, he is always traveling and on TV, and he has an agency to run. So everyone just needs to work together.
It sounds like Trump wanted Musk to know that running the State Department was a little bit more complex a task than he appreciated. The traveling, the television appearances… having to deal with the Elon Musks of the world can be trying. This is all setting aside the job of running a department that is being cut – and it sounds like it’s being done so without consultation with either Rubio or Trump. As we see from his statement coming out of the meeting, President Trump seems to have appreciated Rubio’s point because he hinted at possibly slowing DOGE down or pulling it a bit back:
“We just had a meeting with most of the Secretaries, Elon, and others, and it was a very positive one. It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people.”
That could be interpreted as a bit of a warning to Musk in that it sounds like his boss is aware of the chance that things could be taken too far. The “But it’s also…” is a “but” to something that has occurred. We have also heard that Trump wants things to be done with a scalpel, certainly a different image than a chainsaw waived above heads.
To be sure, Musk is doing what Trump wants done. But like anyone overseeing a massive team of people, Trump has to keep as many involved and pulling in the same direction as possible. He must also know that none of these people are shrinking violets who stomp off and pout when pulled back. All of this is to be expected.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t interesting to be a fly on the wall. Just remember, it’s not like ten things – just as important, didn’t occur during the week, stuff that never leaked, and may paint an even sharper picture. It is hard to tell. It is getting more obvious that this administration doesn’t leak anywhere near as much as the first Trump administration in its first months.
God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and on twitter-X at @JasonMiciak, and follow now on Bluesky.
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Remember in his business Trump was reported as encouraging and expecting his people that worked for him to always be at each other’s throats. He thinks that keeps them from creating an alias together against him. He’s just continued his methods in the Oval office