Vice President JD Vance pushed back on claims of tension between some of President Donald Trump’s cabinet members and billionaire Elon Musk, saying Thursday on Fox News that the story “wasn’t totally true.”
Following a March 6 cabinet meeting to discuss Musk’s and the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE’s) role in the administration, reports claimed Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had pressed Musk over agency cuts. On “The Ingraham Angle,” host Laura Ingraham brought up the alleged DOGE “tension” among the cabinet, asking if Vance would confirm the reports and whether the group had calmed “things down.”
“I don’t think there’s tension. There’s certainly disagreement from time to time,” Vance said. “We’re not going to agree on every single issue within an administration, but the president has been very clear. Elon’s doing a great job, and obviously we appreciate what he’s doing. Marco, I think, is doing an incredible job as secretary of State.”
“I had high expectations. I think he’s actually exceeded those expectations. So the fact that you have a disagreement at a meeting, that does not mean that you have misalignment,” Vance added. “It just means that you’ve got to talk about this stuff.”
Trump announced on Truth Social that the meeting among cabinet members and Musk was to discuss the billionaire’s role in the administration, emphasizing his desire for the team to work with DOGE on “cost-cutting measures and staffing.” While praising DOGE’s efforts, Trump also clarified that Musk does not have the authority to fire people or make unilateral decisions on policy or personnel but can make recommendations to agencies, according to Politico.
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A report from The New York Times said that Rubio and Duffy clashed with Musk after the billionaire allegedly criticized the lack of cuts to staff and supplies at both agencies.
“We’re not going to have an administration where you have a president who sits there at cabinet meetings asleep while his wife runs the cabinet meeting and nobody’s doing anything. We’re going to talk about issues,” Vance said. “It does annoy me that that leaked. I will say that story wasn’t totally true, to be clear.”
“We need to have conversations. We need to be able to talk to one another and solve this stuff without some random staffer leaking it,” Vance said. “I suspect that’s what happened. We’re going to keep on doing the president’s business because it’s the American people’s business.”
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Since reports surfaced alleging tensions between Trump’s cabinet members and Musk, the president dismissed a reporter on March 6 who asked about the claims. Democrats have strongly pushed back against Musk since his involvement with Trump’s campaign, escalating their criticism after he announced on Feb. 22 that Trump agreed to upend U.S. Aid for International Development.
With some Democrat lawmakers accusing Musk’s DOGE of unlawfully examining wasteful government spending, protests against Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla have intensified. According to Fox News, an Oregon Tesla dealership near Portland was vandalized on March 6, with damaged cars and shattered windshields after being hit by gunfire.
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