Trump to cabinet: you’re ‘out’ if you’re unhappy with Musk

The unelected billionaire is in charge of radically downsizing the US government and wields more power than anyone else in Trump’s inner circle.

Elon Musk wears a shirt that says ‘tech support’ as he speaks during a cabinet meeting. Picture: AFP

President Trump defended billionaire adviser Elon Musk on Wednesday and raised the possibility that some of the more than one million federal workers who didn’t respond to an email asking what they accomplished last week could be fired.

“Those people are on the bubble, as they say, maybe they’re going to be gone,” Trump said in the first cabinet meeting of his new term at the White House. The president also said that some of the people who didn’t respond may be dead or don’t exist. The White House said that one million workers responded to the email, or more than 40 per cent of the federal workforce of roughly 2.3 million.

Musk, who is running the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting initiative, said he is confident he can find $1 trillion in savings across the government’s roughly $7 trillion in annual spending, or a cut of 15 per cent.

Trump praised Musk’s efforts and asked his cabinet if anyone was dissatisfied with Musk’s efforts. No one responded. Members of the cabinet, seated around a long table in the West Wing, laughed and none indicated any dissent. But several senior agency officials instructed federal workers to pause or not respond to Musk’s email asking federal workers for a bullet-point list of five things they accomplished last week.

“Some disagree a little bit, but I will tell you, for the most part, I think everyone’s not only happy, they’re thrilled,” Trump said. He added later, addressing his cabinet, “Is anyone unhappy with Elon? If you are, we’ll throw them out of here.”

The U.S. president said his ultimate goal was to balance the government’s budget, “maybe by next year or the year after.” The last time the U.S. government had a budget surplus was 2001.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the deficit is projected to be $1.7 trillion in fiscal 2027. That figure assumes that Trump’s expiring tax cuts get extended and that none of his new tax cut proposals get implemented.

Balancing the budget that year without touching Social Security, Medicare or interest costs would require eliminating almost half of all other spending.

Agency leaders across the government are working on plans to reduce the size of their workforce and cut spending.

Musk in cabinet. Picture: AFP

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin hopes to cut the size of the agency’s workforce by 65 per cent, Trump said, adding that the administration plans to shift the responsibilities of the Education Department to the states.

Trump declined to say whether he would stop China from taking Taiwan by force. “I never comment on that,” Trump said, “because I don’t want to ever put myself in that position.”

As negotiations over an end to the three-year-old war in Ukraine continue, Trump said the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, would come to Washington on Friday to sign a mineral resources agreement. Though the details of the deal still need to be worked out, Trump said it would bring money to the U.S. in a bid to recoup some of the billions the federal government sent to Ukraine.

Musk listens as Donald Trump addresses the cabinet meeting. Picture: AFP

But Trump stopped short of committing to use American military resources to protect Ukraine. “I’m not going to make security guarantees,” Trump said, noting Europeans would place peacekeeping troops in the country.

Trump said he is considering firing the military officials who were involved in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. “Most of those people are going to be gone,” he said.

Tariffs on Mexico and Canada will be implemented on April 2, Trump said. The tariffs were scheduled to go into effect on March 4.

The president asserted that the European Union was formed to “screw the United States.” He added that he is considering 25% tariffs on EU automobiles and other products.

Trump also expanded on his proposed “gold card” program, which would provide legal U.S. residency status to those willing to pay $5 million. Candidates for the program won’t have to pledge to create jobs in the U.S., he said.

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