Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk met privately late last month in an attempt to resolve their policy disagreements before they erupted in a contentious cabinet meeting last week, according to Politico Magazine.
The meeting, described as “cordial, some even say lighthearted,” focused on the future of the State Department and the remnants of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which Musk’s team at the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) aggressively dismantled after Inauguration Day.
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“Musk, the world’s richest man now serving as a top adviser to President Donald Trump, wanted major cuts — and fast — at the State Department,” Politico reported. “Rubio said he was fine with big cuts, but he wasn’t inclined to rush them through. He was already dealing with the fallout of Musk acolytes’ rapid dismantling of USAID, not to mention an array of global crises. He believed the changes at State should be more thought-out and methodical.”
Despite their differences, the meeting reportedly ended on good terms. A source with knowledge of the situation and an administration official close to Rubio confirmed that last week’s confrontation at the White House was less heated than a New York Times article suggested, though they acknowledged the two did argue over the scale and pace of restructuring efforts.
“Nobody wants the State Department to be in a position where USAID was, where it had difficulty operating,” the official noted. Rubio’s stance was seen as both a defense of his department and an effort to maintain his influence in the Trump administration, where his foreign policy views have often clashed with the president’s priorities.
“He’s in this awkward situation,” said Gerald Feierstein, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen. “He’s doing things that he fundamentally believes are bad policy and bad steps. He’s got to go along with it because Musk and Trump are standing between him and his higher ambition of being president.”
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To secure his standing, Rubio has sought diplomatic wins for Trump, such as attempting to broker an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine and pressuring Panama to distance itself from China. However, the deep staff cuts championed by Musk have weakened the State Department’s capabilities and undermined confidence in Rubio’s leadership. “Rubio wants to be a diplomat,” said a source familiar with the situation. “Everything DOGE does creates problems for him in terms of diplomacy.”
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