President , Donald Trump’s first White House , Cabinet , meeting on Wednesday saw the leader and his company leaders advance foreign and domestic troubles, and it offered it businessman Elon Musk an opportunity to address issues over the Department of Government Performance.
Trump confirmed rumors that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would travel to the White House on Friday during the Cabinet gathering, and he revealed that the US and Ukraine have “worked out” the specifics of a materials deal.
Following a meeting between a U.S. group and a Russian group to start negotiating a peace deal, the administration has been focusing on ending the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
In a dramatic show of Musk’s impact, Musk was the first member of the administration to address the space after the president made his remarks.
The conference, which was over an hour longer, was a withdrawal from former President Joe Biden’s leadership. The White House restricted media contacts with the leader during Biden’s term in office and opted for shorter sessions to stop Biden’s growing health issues from becoming the subject of the day’s information.
Here are the best restaurants from Trump’s Cabinet meet.
1. Trump looms large over the management
Musk is certainly a member of the Cabinet, but he was the first to go through DOGE and provide a lengthy explanation of his steps after Trump called on him.
Musk, wearing a black Make America Great Again helmet, stood up and spoke to the area, unlike Trump, who spoke while sitting down.
The technology businessman defended his questionable actions, including requiring federal employees to list their achievements or face losing their jobs in an email sent over the weekend, saying he was just “tech support.”
He acknowledged, however, that his behavior could lead to errors.
” We may make mistakes. We won’t be great, but when we make a mistake, we’ll fix it really quickly”, Musk said. ” So, for instance, with USAID, one of the things we unknowingly canceled very recently was ebola protection. I think we all want bola avoidance, so we restored hiv prevention quickly, and there was no interruption”.
But, after the Cabinet meet, Dr. Craig Spencer, an associate professor at Brown University School of Public Health, rejected Musk’s say that the United States Agency for International Development money end didn’t walk public health.
According to Spencer,” One of the things we unknowingly cancelled very recently was Ebola elimination,” and it was quickly restored. Musk added that Musk “directly destroyed the response structures needed to end Ebola epidemics abroad and protect us here in the U.S. S”.
Despite the widespread misunderstanding the initial contact caused within a number of companies, Musk also reaffirmed his plans to send another email to national staff asking them to reveal their achievements.
” I think it’s a great idea”, Trump later said about a second round of letters. ” You got a lot of people that have not responded. So we’re trying to figure out, do they arise? Who are they? And it’s probable that many of those people may actually be fired.
” This country has gotten bloated and fat and disgusting”, the president said.
During the discussion, Trump even reiterated his support for Musk.
” Anybody angry with Elon? Trump said as his remarks drew acclaim from the place,” If you are, then we’ll put them out of here.” They regard Elon greatly and know that he is doing this. And some people have a little bit of disagreement. But I will tell you, for the most part, I think one’s not merely happy — they’re thrilled”.
2. Rubio and Hegseth side Trump, with Musk sitting on sidelines
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sat down on Trump’s right and left during the long Cabinet meeting, both.
Attorney General Pam Bondi flanked Vice President JD Vance as he sat across from the leader.
Trump sat in the center of the area, as is process for such discussions.
Rubio, as secretary of state, ranks first in the Cabinet and is expected to lay to the government’s right. Scott Bessent, the secretary of state, is next in line and sits to Vance’s straight. As next position, Hegseth sits to the president’s returned, and Bondi, as fourth level, sits to the left of the vice president.
On the outskirts of the conference table sat lower-ranking officials like Alina Habba, Musk’s president’s counselor, and Stephen Miller, the company’s deputy chief of staff.
Rubio and Musk both came up directly in Trump’s comments after he was questioned about which federal agency he found particularly impressive.
” I think that Elon has done incredibly with some groups, and some groups are much easier than others”, Trump began.
” State is, you know, ]a ] very difficult situation. We’re right now negotiating very successfully, I think, with Russia and with Ukraine, and we have a lot of countries involved”, Trump continued. ” And we have to be a little bit careful what we do and who we’re terminating, but Marco is doing that very — I think he’s going to be very precise”.
3. Trump is willing to pass a new immigration “gold card”
The president reaffirmed his plan to begin selling$ 5 million gold cards to wealthy immigrants seeking relocating to the United States.
Trump lamented that businesses are unable to employ immigrants without the necessary paperwork to work in the nation.
” These companies can go and buy a gold card, and they can use it as a matter of recruitment. At the same time, the company is using that money to pay down debt”, Trump said before touting an Apple investment.
” I believe the gold card will be utilized for other purposes as well. I mean, they’ll be used by companies. I mean, I could see Apple. I’ve spoken with Tim Cook, and by the way, he’s going to make a$ 500 billion investment in the country only because of the results of the election”.
Trump stated that the gold cards would be accessible in two to three weeks.
” Maybe it will sell like crazy. I do believe it will sell like a maniac. It’s a market”, he added.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed that if 200, 000 gold cards were sold,$ 1 trillion could be used to reduce the country’s debt.
According to Lutnick,” We are going to balance his budget and we are going to pay off the debt under President Trump,” which is why the president does it.
4. Most Cabinet members avoid the spotlight
In 2017, Trump’s first Cabinet meeting during his first administration featured several Cabinet members lavishing praise on him, to Trump’s delight.
Eight years later, the majority of Cabinet members in Trump’s second term did not address the audience or ask questions of reporters.
The vice president only spoke to defend Trump’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine war’s resolution during the peace negotiations.
” We’re not going to do the negotiation in public with the American media”, Vance said. ” He’s going to do it in private with the president of Russia, with the president of Ukraine, and with other leaders”.
Vance continued as he chastised the media,” I just want to push back against some of the criticism I’ve seen in the administration on this because you guys preemptively accuse him of allowing Russia to enter his orbit,” ” He hasn’t conceded anything to anyone. He’s doing the job of a diplomat, and he is, of course, the diplomat in chief as the president of the United States”.
Others such as Lutnick, Musk, Hegseth, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave brief remarks but mostly deferred to Trump to lead the meeting.
None of the female members of the Cabinet spoke at the meeting, which included Bondi, chief of staff Susie Wiles, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick for the U. S. ambassador to the United Nations.
5. reporters make their mark in the news media pool
Reporters from Newsmax and The Blaze were added to the small number of journalists covering the president on Wednesday in a change-up of the White House press pool rotation.
The action comes in response to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s announcement the day before that the administration would retake over the rotation from the White House Correspondents ‘ Association.
During the meeting, Newsmax‘s James Rosen asked whether Trump would permit China to enter Taiwan and whether he would monetize the country’s immigration system.
Trump declined to make any comments on the Taiwan issue. ” I never comment on that”, he said.
Musk was questioned by Chris Bedford with the Blaze about the upcoming developments for the federal workforce.
” About half of the government employees up here have responded to your request for what they’ve been doing for the past week. Is there a set date for the next steps, the firing of employees, and when can the American people anticipate seeing results? Bedford asked.
” I think that email perhaps was misinterpreted as a performance review, but actually, it was a pulse check review”, Musk said to some laughter. ” Do you have a pulse? Do you have a pulse and two neurons”?
Hegseth’s former Fox and Friends host Lawrence Jones, who pushed for the administration’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021 and asked Trump about the Cabinet members he was impressed with, even questioned him.
WHITE HOUSE INSISTED, AFTER IT WAS NOT MUSKED, AND AMY GLEASON WAS IDENTIFIED AS ACTING DOGE LEADER.
S. V. Date of HuffPost was supposed to be the print pooler on Wednesday, but he was informed on Tuesday night that there wasn’t room for him. In its place as the pool outlet, Alias took over.
” I’m waiting for the pool chain note, the daily guidance, something to tell me what time I’m supposed to be here, and don’t get anything”, he said of the ordeal, explaining that he reached out to the White House, only to be told there was” no room in the pool” for him.
