The clash between Elon Musk and Marco Rubio shook the meeting at the White House

On March 6, a heated argument erupted between the famous entrepreneur and DOGE leader Elon Musk and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a meeting of the U.S. government's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the White House. This was reported by The New York Times (NYT).

According to sources from the newspaper, Musk verbally attacked Rubio during the meeting. He expressed serious concerns about the layoffs of employees at the State Department, accusing Rubio of inefficiency in this regard. Musk emphasized that the Secretary of State is incapable of firing any employees. This led to serious discontent from Rubio.

In response, Marco Rubio accused Musk of lying, stating that the State Department had laid off 1,500 employees in exchange for severance pay. He mentioned that in recent weeks he had been dissatisfied with Musk's approach to government cuts and had openly expressed this at the White House meeting.

As the argument continued, U.S. President Donald Trump, who attended the meeting, remained a spectator and observed the debate for a long time. Only after the debate dragged on did he intervene, praising Rubio's efforts and stating that his work was "excellent."

According to reports from NYT, Trump later commented that there was no serious disagreement between Musk and Rubio. However, according to Politico, Trump specifically called a cabinet meeting, reminding Musk that he only had the right to make recommendations regarding personnel matters. At the same time, he noted that he had taken the first significant step towards limiting the powers of the DOGE leader.

Analysts believe that this incident seriously tested Elon Musk's influence in the government and his views on public administration. The future direction of relations between the State Department and DOGE remains uncertain.