Musk strengthens his role in the White House by participating in Trump's first Cabinet

Donald Trump's second presidency continued to produce unforgettable television material on Wednesday - unprecedented in the history of the United States - with the celebration of the first meeting of the new Cabinet. The star of the broadcast was not Trump, precisely, but Elon Musk , his most recent and privileged ally. Although they did not share the scene (the businessman sat in a corner, far from the president) never before had such a perfect symbiosis between the economic and political powers in this country been captured in images, as when, shortly before noon, Washington time, the richest man in the world, dressed in black and wearing a cap with the Trumpist message Make America Great Again, sat at the table with the leader of the world's leading power and the rest of the members of his government, ready to participate in his inaugural meeting, held 36 days after the Republican took power.

In what capacity did Musk do it? It is still not entirely clear, although it is clear that the businessman is not a member of the Cabinet. The White House continues to refuse to clarify what his role is in the government structure - "special government employee," they call him - although everyone knows that the owner of Tesla, X and Space X, among other companies, has earned the nickname of First Friend of the president (while his First Lady, Melania Trump, remains discreetly away from the White House). Also, that his actions at the head of something called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a para-governmental agency dedicated to the task of slimming down the US Administration by means of layoffs and the freezing of billions of dollars in federal subsidies and programs, have captured almost all the attention of the Executive's actions in these weeks.

The meeting started 45 minutes late and with the members of the Cabinet united in a joint prayer. Trump's first words were about the agreement reached on Tuesday with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky - who, the Republican confirmed, will come to Washington on Friday - for the joint exploitation of Ukrainian mineral resources , and as part of the peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. The president then repeated false figures about the contribution of the United States to the cause of Kiev, which he contrasted with the European one, which he considers "insufficient." To his left, sat Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense. To his right, Secretary of State Marco Rubio. After praying, Trump referred to the "wonderful work" of DOGE, and gave the floor, before anyone else, to Musk.

The businessman, who was not sitting in the front circle but in the second row of the meeting room, stood up and defended his work as something that “is not optional.” If he does, “the United States will go bankrupt,” he said. Musk said that the goal is to cut the deficit by one trillion dollars by 2026. During the campaign, the then candidate promised that the cut would reach two trillion. Musk acknowledged that this will not be possible, and also the mistake of having frozen the funds for a program to stop the Ebola epidemic in Africa.

Before moving on to the rest of the attendees, Trump opened the floor to the reporters in the room. The first question was whether Cabinet members were upset with Musk's growing power. "Is anyone unhappy with Elon?" he asked. "If so, we'll kick him out of here." The attendees responded with nervous laughter that culminated in timid applause. "President Trump has assembled the best Cabinet in history," Musk then interjected.

American media have reported in recent days that some secretaries were reportedly angry when they were surprised to find out last weekend that Musk had sent his federal employees an email asking them how they had spent their time the previous week. Musk said he had asked the president if he agreed to send such a message demanding five points about what they were doing, and Trump said he approved of it.

Leaders of the Departments of Defense, State, Energy, Health and Homeland Security — all of them confirmed by the Senate — publicly contradicted the DOGE boss by asking their federal employees not to respond to the controversial email. Failure to respond to that request, Musk threatened, could be grounds for dismissal.

To get ahead of any potential conflicts, Trump wrote early on Wednesday on his social networks (and with his usual use of capital letters) that “ALL CABINET MEMBERS ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON.” “The media will see this at the cabinet meeting this morning!” the messages added.

The main criticism Musk has from his detractors is that no one voted for him to have such a prominent role in the government, although Trump made it clear during the campaign - a campaign to which the tycoon was the largest donor with more than 250 million dollars (almost 240 million euros) - that he would count on him. Also, that he has not been subject to scrutiny by the Senate, which could have investigated the apparent conflicts of interest of someone in charge of slimming down an Administration with which his private companies do lucrative business.

Infrequent meetings

Government meetings, in the style of the Spanish Council of Ministers, are rare in the United States. Even rarer is that they include a guest who is not part of it. Trump and his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, deal directly with the secretaries of the different departments and the collegiate body has no specific powers beyond advising the president. It is made up of the vice president, the secretaries of executive departments, the chief of staff and other members with different positions.

Musk’s attendance at Friday’s meeting was a given, given that Trump has kept him close and has appeared in the Oval Office with him and his four-year-old son before the media. However, it was confirmed by Karoline Leavitt, the White House spokeswoman. “I have spoken to the president about this before I came here. And Elon, given that he is working alongside the president and our Cabinet secretaries, this entire administration will be present tomorrow, precisely to talk about the DOGE efforts and how all the Cabinet secretaries are identifying waste, fraud and abuse in their respective agencies,” Leavitt said on Tuesday at her routine appearance before the press.

The next morning, Leavitt insisted on an open-air appearance on the White House grounds in that vein (“all secretaries follow the advice and direction of DOGE,” he said), despite reports in some media about the discomfort caused by Musk’s figure.