"Is there anyone dissatisfied with Elon?" On the 26th (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump defended Elon Musk, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesla, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), at the first cabinet meeting following the start of his second term. DOGE has initiated mass layoffs of federal employees, and during this process, Musk instructed federal employees to report their work performance via email, threatening termination if they did not comply. Amid growing backlash, with heads of more than 12 federal agencies instructing not to respond to the email, Trump sided with Musk. Musk also attended the cabinet meeting, where Trump gave him the floor.
According to major foreign news sources such as The Washington Post (WP), Trump said in the cabinet meeting, "Some may not fully agree, but I believe most people are happy and excited," and added, "It's an honor to be with a man who has achieved tremendous success." He then asked, "Is there anyone dissatisfied with Elon?" The attendees at the cabinet meeting laughed, and no one expressed disagreement.
On that day, Trump also gave Musk the floor. Musk could not sit at the cabinet meeting table where the Senate-confirmed ministers were seated because he is categorized not as a regular minister but as a "special government employee." However, attending the cabinet meeting wearing a black MAGA (Make America Great Again) hat and a black T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase "Tech support," Musk stated, "Tech support will literally explain DOGE's work," elaborating on how much more extensive DOGE's operations have become and how essential it is to the national economy.
Musk said, "We cannot maintain a $2 trillion deficit. The interest on the current national debt alone exceeds the defense expenditure," and noted, "If this continues, the U.S. will effectively go bankrupt." He also praised Trump for forming "the greatest cabinet in history" and expressed gratitude to the ministers who supported his work. Furthermore, Musk mentioned DOGE's freezing of International Development Agency funds for Ebola prevention, stating, "We make mistakes. We can't be perfect," but added, "The overall goal of DOGE is to help alleviate the tremendous federal government liability."
Musk also addressed the controversial instruction to report work performance via email. He claimed it was designed as "a pulse check" and was "misinterpreted as a performance review." Musk explained, "If there are two neurons, this email could be answered," referring to how the DOGE team would use the email to discern the number of deceased or "virtual employees" among federal employees on the payroll. He stated, "We are literally trying to figure out if these people are alive, dead, or able to email. I think this is a reasonable expectation," and mentioned that he would send additional emails to federal employees.
Trump has supported Musk. Musk noted that he would fire anyone not following his email instructions, raising questions about whether he indeed has the authority to terminate employees. In response, Trump asserted on behalf of himself that "everyone who participated in the discussion" fully supports this effort and added, "If not, I would like them to voice it."
According to the White House, 1 million workers responded to the email, representing over 40% of approximately 2.3 million federal employees. Musk expressed confidence that annually, the government's expenditure, which reaches about $7 trillion, could be reduced by $1 trillion, which amounts to a reduction of about 15%.