President Donald Trump thwarted rumors of a cabinet meeting clash on Friday, telling reporters he was the “troublemaker” to raise it.
A report from the New York Times suggested on Thursday that government efficiency director Elon Musk pursued Secretary of State Marco Rubio during Cabinet meetings in order not to fire enough people at the agency that the latter has scope.
Rubio angered that the more than 1,500 State Department officials who bought Trump should be considered layoffs, according to the Times.
After Trump signed an executive order to create the White House Task Force for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in his oval office on Friday, NBC News'Gabe Gutierrez tried to ask about Musk and Rubio.
“Some details have been revealed about the Cabinet meeting with Elon Musk, and there have been some potential conflicts between Secretary Rubio,” he began.
Trump interrupted and replied that the clash never happened.
“There's no conflict. I was there – you're just a troublemaker,” Trump said. “And we're talking about the World Cup so you're not going to ask that question.”
“Elon is getting along with Marco. They both do a great job. There's no conflict,” Trump added.
As Gutierrez continued to speak, Trump asked which outlet he was with.
“NBC,” Gutierrez said.
“Hmm, I don't think it's strange,” Trump recalled, saying. “That's enough. NBC.”
Trump has similarly called out other reporters over the past few weeks.
On Thursday, Trump called on MSNBC to host Nicole Wallace and Rachel Madow and called on him to step down from commenting on DJ Daniel, a 13-year-old brain cancer survivor.
A few weeks ago, Trump told CNN's Kaitlan Collins that former President Joe Biden was a “friend of CNN.”
“That's why no one is watching CNN anymore because they're not reliable,” Trump added.
