2 hours ago
Bernd Debusmann Jr, BBC News, White House
President Donald Trump convened his inaugural cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday, transforming it into an extensive Q&A session that spanned over an hour. Flanked by his cabinet members—and billionaire Elon Musk, notably sporting a “tech support” T-shirt—Trump addressed a multitude of issues, from efforts to reduce government spending to immigration, the economy, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Here are six key takeaways from the meeting:
1) Trump Commends Rubio and Musk
When questioned about which government departments—and by extension, which cabinet members—were most resistant to his policy changes, Trump responded, “So far, I’m happy with all of those choices.”
He further noted that “some groups are much easier than others,” specifically lauding the efforts of Elon Musk—who isn’t a cabinet member—and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The administration is concentrating on “cutting down the size of government, we have to,” Trump added.
“We want to have a balanced budget within a reasonably short period of time… meaning maybe by next year or maybe the year after,” he stated.
2) Addressing Potential Cabinet Frictions
Trump publicly—and repeatedly—endorsed the work of Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), tasked with reducing government spending and the federal workforce.
The president aimed to quell any rumors of discord between Musk and the rest of his team.
“They have a lot of respect for Elon and that he’s doing this, and some disagree a little bit,” Trump said. “But I will tell you for the most part I think everyone’s not only happy, they’re thrilled.”
“If they aren’t, I want them to speak up,” he added.
At one point, Trump asked if any cabinet members had expressed dissatisfaction with Musk and turned to the room to inquire. None spoke up.
Musk also defended Doge, describing it as a “support function” for government agencies to eliminate fraud.
He acknowledged, however, that mistakes might occur, citing an instance where Ebola prevention efforts were accidentally canceled before being reinstated.
“But when we make mistakes we’ll fix it very quickly,” Musk assured.
3) A Caution to Federal Employees
The president also addressed Musk’s email to federal employees, asking them to list five tasks they had completed in the past week or risk losing their jobs, stating the cabinet is “very much behind” the initiative.
Trump speculated, without evidence, that some of the approximately one million federal workers who haven’t responded to the email might “not exist.”
“Maybe they’re going to be gone,” he added.
“We’re trying to figure out who those people are who haven’t responded,” Trump continued. “We’re being a little more surgical in situations where people are doing classified stuff.”
Trump also encouraged cabinet members to “do their own Doge” within their respective agencies.
He suggested that the Environmental Protection Agency, led by Lee Zeldin, could see up to a 65% reduction in its workforce.
4) Memo Orders Further Staff Cuts
Later in the day, a memo was dispatched to federal agencies, instructing them to submit plans for “a significant reduction” in their staff by March 13.
The memo requests agencies to provide a list of employees deemed non-essential and to limit future hiring to one position for every four individuals let go.
These layoffs would be in addition to those already executed by Doge, primarily affecting probationary workers. Multiple U.S. outlets have reported that nearly 10,000 federal employees were dismissed across various agencies earlier this month.
This figure adds to the estimated 75,000 workers who accepted a voluntary departure offer from the White House in the fall.
Wednesday’s memo signifies another step in Doge’s mission to further reduce the size of the U.S. government.
Exempt from this action are positions in law enforcement, border security, immigration enforcement, and the military.
5) Trump Confirms Zelensky Visit
Trump confirmed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the White House on Friday—a prospect that had been previously suggested.
Trump stated the visit would involve the U.S. and Ukraine signing a comprehensive minerals deal, though the specifics of the agreement remain unclear.
He mentioned the deal would allow the U.S. to “get our money back” for the assistance provided to Ukraine in the three years since Russia’s invasion.
“We’re going to get a lot of money in the future, and I think that’s appropriate because we have taxpayers that shouldn’t be footing the bill,” he said. “It’s all been worked out.”
Zelensky has described the bilateral deal as preliminary and expressed a desire for further agreements, including U.S. security guarantees to deter renewed Russian aggression.
When asked about future security guarantees for Ukraine, Trump stated that the U.S. would not provide any, arguing that the responsibility should fall to Europe.
6) EU Tariffs Imminent
Trump announced plans to impose a 25% tariff on goods manufactured in the European Union.
“We’ll be announcing it very soon,” he told reporters. “It’ll be 25% generally speaking, and that will be on cars and all other things.”
“They’ve really taken advantage of us,” Trump said of the EU. “They don’t accept our cars. They don’t accept essentially our farm products. They use all sorts of reasons why not.”
Trump was also asked if he still plans on implementing tariffs on Canada and Mexico, despite the significant drop in detentions of illegal migrants at the southern border and Canada’s
