A heated exchange unfolded at a White House Cabinet meeting on Thursday, as billionaire entrepreneur and adviser Elon Musk confronted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over what he described as a lack of progress in cutting the State Department’s workforce.

The meeting, presided over by President Donald Trump, saw the two men engage in a tense back-and-forth before the President stepped in to clarify Musk’s advisory role.

According to a report by The New York Times, Musk, who has been leading efforts to reduce federal bureaucracy under Trump’s directives, accused Rubio of failing to implement significant job cuts.

“You’ve fired nobody,” Musk was quoted as saying, claiming that the only person Rubio may have dismissed was a staffer from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a unit overseen by the Tesla chief.

Rubio, however, pushed back, pointing out that over 1,500 State Department employees had accepted early retirement buyouts. With apparent sarcasm, he asked Musk, “Do you want me to rehire those people just so you can fire them again for the show?”

Musk, unimpressed, dismissed Rubio’s justification with a pointed remark. “You’re good on TV,” he quipped, implying that the Secretary’s strengths lay in media appearances rather than administrative action.

As tensions mounted, Trump, who had been listening with folded arms, intervened to defuse the situation. He defended Rubio’s handling of the department, describing his performance as commendable given his extensive travel and public engagements. The President also clarified that Musk’s DOGE unit served in an advisory capacity rather than having direct authority over hiring and firing decisions. “DOGE is only playing an advisory role,” Trump stated.

The meeting had been convened following complaints from various agency heads about Musk’s aggressive push for workforce reductions. According to Reuters, the White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, and the Office of Legislative Affairs had also been inundated with concerns from Republican lawmakers facing backlash over the restructuring efforts.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after the meeting, Trump sought to downplay reports of a dispute. “There was no clash. I was there. You’re just a troublemaker,” he told a journalist, adding, “Marco has done unbelievably as Secretary of State, and Elon is a unique guy who’s done a fantastic job.”

Trump later reiterated his position on Truth Social, characterising the meeting as constructive. “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,” he wrote. “We say the scalpel rather than the hatchet.”