Donald Trump used his first full cabinet meeting of his second term to underscore his administration’s commitment to significantly reducing the size of the federal government. Meanwhile, tech billionaire Elon Musk, without providing evidence, warned that “America will go bankrupt” unless substantial spending cuts are made.
The meeting saw minimal participation from cabinet secretaries and instead focused on the government-reduction initiative spearheaded by Musk. Though not an official cabinet member, Musk described himself as “humble tech support” for the administration’s efforts.
This meeting coincided with a directive requiring federal agencies to submit plans by mid-March for what an official memo referred to as “large-scale reductions in force.” The order marks a significant escalation in Trump’s efforts to restructure the federal workforce.
Trump applauded Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin for his proposal to slash up to 65% of the agency’s workforce. However, Musk declined to specify the total number of federal jobs targeted for elimination, stating only that he aimed to “keep people who are doing good work in essential roles.”
Musk, who leads the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) team, outlined a goal of achieving “$1tn in deficit reduction by financial year 2026.”
This figure represents a reduction from the $2tn in cuts he had pledged during the campaign. He stated that reaching this goal would require “saving $4bn per day, every day” until the end of September.
“We simply cannot sustain a country with $2tn deficits,” Musk asserted. “The interest on the national debt now exceeds the defense department spending… If this continues, the country will become de facto bankrupt.”
Donald Trump (Photo: AP)
Trump and Musk also addressed the controversy surrounding an email sent to federal employees requiring them to list five accomplishments from the previous week. Some agency leaders had instructed employees to ignore the directive due to national security concerns.
Musk clarified that the email was “not meant as a performance review” but rather a “pulse check review” to identify “phantom employees.” He also noted that Trump had personally approved the email, which had reportedly caught cabinet secretaries off guard.
According to Musk, the directive has since been revised, allowing employees to simply indicate that they are working on classified matters in their response.
Although Trump has reiterated his commitment to balancing the budget and reducing the national debt, his previous administration added $8.4tn in new borrowing over a 10-year period. This contradicts his 2016 campaign promise to eliminate the entire national debt within eight years.
During the meeting, Trump—who dominated the discussion—repeated several false claims, including one suggesting that European nations would reimburse the U.S. for aid sent to Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron had directly corrected this statement earlier in the week during a meeting in the Oval Office.
Trump also announced his intention to impose 25% tariffs on imports from the European Union, asserting that the bloc “was formed to screw the United States.”
He stated that the decision had already been finalized and would be officially announced “very soon,” specifically highlighting car imports among other targeted goods.
Additionally, he postponed the implementation of tariffs on Canada and Mexico by one month, pushing the deadline to April 2. This decision came just two days after he had stated they would take effect on March 4. Trump also continued to suggest that Canada should become a U.S. state.
