President Donald Trump squelched rumors of a cabinet meeting clash on Friday, telling a reporter he was a “troublemaker” for bringing it up.
Reporting from The New York Times suggested that on Thursday, Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk went after Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a cabinet meeting for not firing enough people in USAID, an agency over which the latter has purview.
Rubio, according to The Times, angrily responded that the over 1,500 State Department officials who took the Trump buyouts should be considered layoffs.
After Trump signed an executive order to create the White House Task Force for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the Oval Office Friday, NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez tried to ask about Musk and Rubio.
“Some details have come out about your cabinet meeting with Elon Musk, and some clashes potentially between Secretary Rubio,” he began.
Trump interrupted, responding that a clash never happened.
“No clash. I was there — you’re just a troublemaker,” Trump said. “And you’re not supposed to be asking that question, because we’re talking about the World Cup.”
“Elon gets along great with Marco, and they’re both doing a fantastic job. There is no clash,” Trump added.
As Gutierrez continued speaking, Trump asked which outlet he was with.
“NBC,” Gutierrez said.
“Ugh, no wonder,” Trump said, turning away. “That’s enough. NBC.”
Trump has called out other reporters similarly in the last few weeks.
On Thursday, Trump called on MSNBC hosts Nicolle Wallace and Rachel Maddow to resign for comments they made about DJ Daniel, a 13-year-old brain cancer survivor, who was honored during Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
A few weeks prior, Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that former President Joe Biden is “a friend of CNN.”
“That’s why nobody watches CNN anymore, because they have no credibility,” Trump added.
