'Is Anybody Unhappy With Elon?'

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Newsletter
On Politics: Musk’s Washington

‘Is Anybody Unhappy With Elon?’

President Trump’s first cabinet meeting was a display of deference to Elon Musk.


President Trump’s first cabinet meeting left no doubt that he expects the group to fall in line behind Elon Musk. Doug Mills/The New York Times

By Jess Bidgood
Feb. 26, 2025

You’re reading the On Politics: Musk’s Washington newsletter. A close-up look at how Elon Musk is trying to transform the federal government. Get it sent to your inbox.

A couple of hours before President Trump convened his cabinet for the first time, he used his social media platform to declare that the group was “EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON.” … As the meeting began, it seemed to be the members’ job to prove it.

The secretaries sat largely in silence behind their paper name cards, the sort of thing you need when, powerful though you may be, you are not a household name. And they listened politely as the richest man in the world loomed over them, scolding them about the size of the deficit, sheepishly admitting to temporarily canceling an effort to prevent ebola and insisting they were all crucial to his mission. … “I’d like to thank everyone for your support,” Elon Musk said.

In fact, Musk has not had the support of every cabinet secretary — at least not when he tried to order their employees to account for their time over email or resign. When a reporter asked about the obvious tension, Trump kicked the question to the secretaries themselves. … “Is anybody unhappy with Elon?” Trump asked. “If you are, we’ll throw him out of here. Is anybody unhappy?”

{snip}

Jess Bidgood is a managing correspondent for The Times and writes the On Politics newsletter, a guide to the 2024 election and beyond. More about Jess Bidgood